Tides of Love
by Rasengan2theface
Summary: Hinata has decided to visit Naruto in the hospital and tell him that she loves him...can Hinata come clean or will she faint again from past events,what will it take to get the truth out, NaruHina, ChoIno, ShikaTem, LeeSaku, NejiTen...will be rated M
1. With Eyes Wide Shut

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

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_**With Eyes Wide Shut**_

Sasuke and Naruto's fight was quite some time ago. After Naruto's fight with Mizuki, in which he was trying to find a lead on Sasuke's whereabouts and was injured while protecting Iruka-sensei, he has finally gotten to the point that he's well enough to be released from the hospital. On his day of release, bearing a bouquet of roses from Ino's family's shop, Hinata has finally found the nerve to visit Naruto again, partially thanks to the encouragement of Shino and Kiba and their promise to go with her and not sneak out. On the way to the hospital, and to meeting Shino and Kiba, Hinata could not help but use the time to think about all that she wished she could say to Naruto-kun.

_Naruto-kun, I've always loved you and…and all I've ever wanted to do is…_

Before she could finish her thought Hinata ran right into Kiba and Akamaru without even looking while Shino just looked on, probably with a smirk but you wouldn't know it, needless to say this startled the already nervous nin and brought her back to the real world.

"Hello Hinata," Shino said in his usual monotone voice, "are you about ready to go see Naruto…"

"Or are you going to daydream like Shikamaru all day?" Kiba pronounced as he abruptly plopped himself onto her shoulder.

With a small blush Hinata managed to get out a yes while her thoughts intertwined with Naruto and the intentions of her visit. To tell him that she loved him and for him to acknowledge that he felt the same as she did was all she could think of, it even helped in tuning out Kiba's bragging about the new technique he and Akamaru had learned in their spare time from his parents.

After a few more minutes of walking the three genins and Akamaru had finally made it to the hospital and for Hinata it was her biggest door of opportunity. Upon entering the hospital they checked in at the desk and were given Naruto's room number. Hinata grew more and more tense the closer they crept to his room. Her nerves had finally kicked in like they did when they went to visit Naruto when he had first been admitted after his battle with Sasuke. She didn't remember much about the visit because she had fainted during it. According to what Kiba and Shino had told her she was sitting next to Naruto's bed waiting for him to wake up from resting and recovering from the battle, she probably could have waited all day and night and it wouldn't have made much of a difference because Naruto didn't wake up for about a week after that fight, and during his sleep he rolled over and faced where she was sitting and his hand managed to fall from its resting place into hers. Upon doing so he grasped it and wouldn't let go regardless of how hard Kiba and Shino struggled to loosen his grip because they knew what was about to happen. Amidst the intertwined ecstasy and panic Hinata was experiencing she lost her head, fainted and woke up in a hospital bed in another room.

_This time is going to be different…I just know it will…I'll handle myself better this time…I've got to do this or it may never get done_

These things repeated over in her head in the vain attempt to calm her nerves

On heading down their final hallway they ran into Tsunade-sama and Shizune-sama who had come to visit Naruto as well. Tsunade-sama was notorious for being lazy and only wanting to lie around and drink sake all day, but on a warm, peaceful and sunny day like today could you really blame her for wanting to be out of the office?

"Hinata, Shino, Kiba," Tsunade said as she greeted them, "so you have come to visit Naruto too."

After a brief conversation with the two of them they joined the trio and continued on to Naruto's room.

They finally came to Naruto's room, his was at the room at the very end of the hall which was almost like home by now because of how often he resided there. Hinata reached for the door handle when Kiba said in a teasing manner, "Make sure you don't faint when you see Naruto this time Hinata."

With a huff Hinata opened the door, eyes wide shut……

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**Rasengan2theface: **Well that's the end of the first chapter and I hope you liked it…I don't know how many chapters long this will be, hopefully a lot, but I hope to have you here all along the way. This is the first fic I've ever written and I know I'm taking a lot from Episode 148 but I promise that after the first two or three chapters the story will be different and I'll add a little of my own flair along the way, I just needed a good starting place and I figured why not here, I've watched the episode so many times that I've about memorized it by heart. Well I hope to see lots of reviews next time I'm back and if anyone would like to offer to be a beta-reader I'd love to have you...well…until next time thanx again and later daze.

Rasengan2theface


	2. Another Room Again

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**Another Room**_

"I finally found you Granny Tsunade," Naruto began to shout, with both feet planted flat on the ceiling to help in ambushing the Hokage, until he realized that the girl standing inches from his face was not Tsunade-sama, but in fact was a very surprised Hyuuga Hinata. "Hinata?" he questioned as she began to fluster from having Naruto-kun so close to her. "Do you have a fever because you look awfully red?" he questioned again as he placed his upside down hand on her forehead, the same hand that had held hers sometime ago. With a panicked scream and a flailing head she managed to headbutt Naruto all the way to the window across the room.

An "ARF" from Akamaru, who was lying on top of her, finally startled the young genin from her slumber and with that she was greeted by the friendly faces of Shino, Kiba and their teacher Kurenai who was already hospitalized there.

"So you have finally come to?" Kiba announced so the others could hear.

As she came out of her short coma Hinata paused to recollect what she could remember of the incident that had her currently placed in the hospital bed.

_WAIT…I did it again didn't I…gasp…Naru…Naruto-kun tou…touched me…I don't believe it…I must have dreamed it…or did I?_

Soon she had realized that in a fit of panic and elation she had once again fainted over Naruto-kun's touch. The memory of her lying on the floor and saying his name over and over again soon came back to her…

**Rasengan2theface:** ok…this is the point in which I'm going to "fast forward" a little bit and get into MY STORY…I will touch on a few things that happen after this occurs in the show…if from anything I'll touch on the Chunnin Exam and the Bykouchuu saga but that'll be about it so there won't be too many spoilers ahead…then again I assume that anyone reading this has already watched up to where Naruto already is and there isn't any need for a warning…well that's about enough of that so back to the fic…FAST FORWARD NO JUTSU to one week after the search for the Bykouchuu

_I can't believe Naruto-kun saw me out on the water…I was so stupid to not be wearing my clothes too…but…he did say that I was "ultra pretty" but…he didn't know it was me…he even thought that he might have dreamed it…when we found the Bykouchuu he did hug me though and he even said that it was all thanks to me…I don't think…I don't think that Naruto-kun has never been that close to me before and I didn't even faint that time…he did seem to be impressed with my new technique tooand the fact that I escaped from being tied up on the river…even so…I still haven't told him how I feel and I just wish that I knew how he felt_

This was all that Hinata could think of while laying in bed at night ever since they had returned from the Bykouchuu mission. That and the fact that she always woke up in another room…

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**Rasengen2theface:** Sorry this one was so short, about 200 words shorter this time to be exact, but I really want to try and get into my story and away from someone else's work. Next chapter should prove to interesting and should introduce some more characters, one of which will provide some encouragement to our heroine and I bet you can't guess who? Come on…take your best shot because you'll never figure it out…I may even throw in a ship that no one else seems to ship for…ChoIno…big guys need some lovin too and you can tell that he has feelings for her even though she tends to be a little inconsiderate at times. If I can fit it in there it'll definitely be in there next chapter and if not then then the chapter after that. Well…until next time…thanx again and later daze.

Rasengen2theface


	3. Unexpected Love Advice

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**Unexpected Love Advice**_

It has been almost a month since the mission to search for the Bykouchuu and almost a month and a half since Hinata took on the mission to tell Naruto about how she feels about him. Things, basically, hadn't changed very much and every night Hinata is still lying in her bed and running the events of nearly a month ago through her head. Every night when sleep finds her she dreams of Naruto and herself laying out in a field and looking at the clouds together………

The sound of her alarm clock woke the young genin of team eight to a beautiful day and a day off from training to boot. After a short shower and preparing breakfast for her father and Neji, and after grabbing a little something for herself of course, the lavender eyed kunoichi went off to gather some groceries from the market for their supper that evening, and maybe she would also catch a glimpse of her Naruto-kun at the ramen shop.

Considering the fact that it was an exceptionally beautiful day Hinata decided that she would take the long path around the village to the market so she could enjoy some of the country air and also considering her house wasn't that far from being outside of the village anyway this wasn't much of an inconvenience, besides…Naruto would probably still be there regardless of what time she passed the ramen shop.

Along the way she passed Ino and Chouji who seemed to be having quite a conversation at the time. Not wanting to interrupt Hinata let out a small "hello" and a small wave as she passed the two of them and with a smile and a wave they passed her as well and continued on their way together. Upon reaching the halfway point of her scenic trip to the market Hinata noticed that there was someone lying out in the middle of one of the fields with their arms behind their head gazing up at the clouds. In realizing that this had to be Shikamaru Hinata raised her hand up to wave but it occurred to her that he probably wouldn't notice because of his focus on the puffy, white cotton balls in the sky.

In noticing the presence of another person walking along the road, that wasn't Ino or Chouji, Shikamaru turns his attention to the presence on his left to see the very timid Hyuuga Hinata waving in his direction in the field.

"Hinata," he called out, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

Perplexed as to what Shikamaru would have to talk to her about, more or less even the fact that he wanted to talk to her, Hinata made her way out to where Shikamaru laid in the middle of the field.

"Shikamaru," she said in the timid voice she used around people she didn't know very well when she finally found her way out to him, "wh...what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Sit down for a minute," he directed, "this could take a while."

She did as he asked and he waited a moment for her to get comfortable because he knew about how long this was going to take.

"Hinata," he started, "I've been doing some thinking and…"

_O NO…he can't be doing what it sounds like he's doing because if he is…this is bad…I have to turn him down quick before he gets his hopes up_

"I can't Shika…"

"No no no…wait," he interrupted, "that's not it at all…let me finish first…I've been doing some thinking about what Naruto's told us about the Bykouchuu mission."

_Naruto-kun…what could Shikamaru have to do with or know about Naruto-kun?_

"Well…it's all he has talked about for about a month. He keeps telling us about this "ultra pretty" girl he saw dancing out on the water underneath a waterfall."

With that Hinata began to turn this incredibly dark shade of crimson.

"And I've been doing some thinking and I've wanted to ask you this, was it you that he saw?"

_O God…how could he possibly know?…I never told anyone about it…I don't even think I wrote about it in my diary just so I could keep this a secret_

"See Shino and Kiba told me about your new technique and how they have been helping you train. They also told me that you use water in your training to help with your chakra control. That's when it hit me, but I couldn't be sure so I had to ask you because he just won't shut up about it and it's driving me crazy."

Hinata could feel the red rushing into her cheeks even more strongly and Shikamaru, as lazy as he was, noticed it too and began to smirk one of his "I thought so" smirks.

"I…I umm…I I I," Hinata stammered as she tried to find something to say to the way too clever cloud gazer.

"That's ok," Shikamaru reassured her, "you don't have to say anything to tell me that it was you, you make that quite apparent with this new shade of red you've invented."

Hinata still couldn't really find anything to say in response, she was far too caught up in the idea that Shikamaru had found out her secret and thatNaruto-kun wouldn't stop talking about her even though he wasn't actually talking about _her_.

As she found her feet andbegan to walk away in a stupor Shikamaru shouted, "You should really tell him it was you, I think he would really like to know that."

This stopped Hinata dead in her tracks. "Do…do you really think so?" she asked as she turned back the Chunnin.

"I can tell that you really like him and if you opened up a little more to him I think you might find out that he likes you too. Naruto tends to be very open about his feelings about things and people but I think that he doesn't tell everybody everything all the time and I think that if you really watch him when you're not looking you'll see it too."

_Naruto-kun…Naruto-kun may actually…like me…maybe…maybe I might just be able to tell him how I feel now…maybe_

"Maybe I will Shikamaru," said the lavender eyed kunoichi, "and thank you…I hope that this wasn't too troublesome for you."

"Hey," Shikamaru jokingly shouted, "that's my line! And don't think anything of it…you're not the first person I've helped in this department today.

"Who…who else then?" Hinata asked as she pondered who else Shikamaru could have talked to about something like this.

Well…I don't think they'd want me telling anybody about it…they're about as shy as you are about this kinda thing…anyways…good luck then I suppose, as for me I think I'm going to get back to my clouds…O and don't worry…I won't tell him."

And with that Shikamaru folded his arms behind his head and returned his attention to the clouds that he had been neglecting.

Hinata turned her back to him and headed back down the road to the market with her thoughts concentrating on the perspective of Naruto-kun sharing her feelings and the thought…

_What unexpected love advice…_

**Rasengan2theface:** Wow…that was a long one, I think it was long anyway…I guess I wanted to make up for the last one being so short…well…I'm tired and don't really have much to say other than write lots of reviews and until next time…thanx and later daze


	4. Little Ramen Shop of Horrors

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**Little Ramen Shop of Horrors**_

Hinata took her time on the way to the market. The day seemed a little warmer and the sun a little brighter after her chat with Shikamaru about Naruto-kun. Upon approaching the entrance of the market it was already almost noon, the trip that usually only took her an hour or two had already taken a whole two hours just to get there but she didn't care anymore because her day had already been made and there wasn't much that could happen that could ruin it at this point. With high spirits Hinata went about her shopping and picked up everything that she needed for supper that evening. After finishing up she decided to head the quick way home just in case her father was angry about how long she had been out, it didn't hurt that the path she had to take also led past the ramen shop either. About five minutes or so had passed before she and her brown paper bag of groceries reached Ichiraku, Naruto's favorite ramen shop. Upon looking past the curtains there was, alas, no Naruto.

_O well…maybe some other ti…_

Once again, before she could finish her thought she had run into someone again and fallen to the ground and dropped her bag full of groceries.

_Baka…I did it again…_

"I'm…I'm sorry…I guess I wasn't loo…" was all the kunoichi managed to stammer out while picking herself up before she realized that person she had run into was the reason she wasn't paying attention to where she was going in the first place.

"Nah…it's my ba…Hinata?" Naruto asked before he could finish his apology. "Umm…here, let me help you pick these up," he said as he reached for a can on the ground.

"Naru…Naruto…umm…no no…don't worry about it…I'll ge…"

"I insist," he interrupted as he reached up to hand her a can of peaches, "it was my fault after…after…"

_What is he doing…he…he's…he's just…stari…stari…_

"Umm…here," he stammered out just so he could break the silence between the two of them as he handed her an apple that had found its way to the ground, "it doesn't look bruised at all…umm...how about you…are you ok?"

"Ye…yes…I think so," was all she could respond with as she diverted her attention to the ground and the groceries that remained there.

They continued to pick up the rest of what was lying on the ground in an awkward silence. After the task was completed and a moment of still awkward silence Naruto broke the silence, "Hinata, I know you just went shopping and all but I was wondering…umm…would you like to come to Ichiraku with me for lunch?"

"I…I…I'm afraid I can't…I should really be getting back…my father will be angry if I don't get back soon…but…but thank you for the offer," she managed to respond despite how she truly wanted to tell him that she would love to spend the rest of the day with him if she could.

"Well let me carry those for you then…Ichiraku will be there when I get back…it'd be the least I could do since it was my fault and all," he said with a nervous grin and a hand scratching the back of his head.

"Are you sure…I mean…I wouldn't want you to miss your lunch over me?" the ever nervous Genin asked.

"Like I said…it'll still be here when I get back and I really don't mind...that is unless you don't want me to…if you don't then I'll understand."

_O no…what do I do…if I say no then he'll think that I don't like him or am mad at him…but if I say yes he'll want to come in and father won't be happy with me as is…o what to do…maybe if I just let him take me to the front gate…that'll do I think…_

"Hinata, you there?" he said as he began waving hand in front of her face trying to bring her out of her daze.

"Umm…yes…I suppose it couldn't hurt."

And with that Naruto picked the brown bag up from the ground and the two of them headed off towards her house.

Silence still seemed to follow them as they walked for a good ten minutes without a word.

"So…Hinata…what all have you been up to today…besides shopping that is?" he asked to break the silence.

"Not a lot…I talked with Shikamaru for a bit before I came to the market."

"O," he said in a disappointed tone, "what did you two talk about?"

"No on…nothing in particular really," she responded as she caught herself.

"O…so just because huh?"

"Umm…yeah…I suppose so…how come you were headed to the ramen shop so late…it's just past one?"

"O…umm…well I guess I slept in a little late…that's why I was in such a hurry…I didn't want to miss them before they closed till dinner."

"I thought you said that they'd still be there when you got back?"

"They will be…when I go back for dinner."

"Naruto…you should go back while you can…I can walk myself the rest of the way home."

"It's ok really…I can eat there just about when ever I want and besides…I…I'd rather be here."

Hinata blushed at what the blonde haired ninja had just said.

_Naruto-kun actually just said that he'd rather be with "me" than somewhere else…I…I don't know what to say_

They continued on in silence for the rest of the trip, a content silence at that.

"Well we're here," Hinata announced as she saw the front gate of her home, "umm…would you like to come in, maybe I can fix you something since I made you miss you lunch?"

_I thought I told myself that he was only going to walk me up to the gate…baka…I can't take it back now now can I_

"Nah…that's ok…I think I'm just going to head back towards the shop…I think I'll even head back the long way past the countryside," he said with a grin.

"Ok…well goodbye then and thank you for walking me back Naruto-kun."

She had said it before she could catch herself. Somehow it had just slipped out and there was no taking it back now.

"Don't think anything of it," he said as he handed the bag of groceries to her and turned to walk away, "I'll see you sometime later then……Hinata-chan."

And with that not another word was spoken between them. Hinata stood there until he made it all the way around the bend in the road.

_He called me Hina…Hinata-chan…does this mean that Shikamaru is right…could Naruto-kun really have feelings for me?_

After a moment Hinata turned to enter her home. On the way through her front gate she stopped and thought

_And I thought it would turn out to be a little ramen shop of horrors

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_

**Rasengen2theface:** Well how's that for a turn of events…I figured that three chapters was enough for you to sit through without the object of her heart making an appearance. The more and more I write this the more and more I like it…to think that I can just pump this out like this…I wish school work would be this easy "Umm…yes…I'd like you to write me one chapter of a fanfiction for Wednesday's homework"…that would really be the greatest thing to ever happen to me EVER…alas I live in the real world, part of the time, and know that that will never happen…o well…well I hope to get lots of reviews on this chapter so let me know what you think…until next time…later daze


	5. Cloud Nine

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**On Cloud Nine**_

_Hinata-chan…he called me Hinata-chan…should I may…_

"What took you so long Hinata?" Neji asked abruptly as he stepped around the corner, distracting her from her thoughts.

"N-Nothing…I just took the long way this morning…you know…the way around the village."

"It sure looked like that something that kept you so long walked you the front gate."

"You…you saw then?"

"Yes I saw," at this point Neji was just short of yelling but just quiet enough so that no one else in the household could hear, "and let me tell you what I think."

_Baka…I knew it was a bad idea to let Naruto-kun walk me home…now that Neji knows I'm sure he'll let this hang over my head…even worse…he'll tell father_

"I think," Neji's voice began to get softer, "that it's about damn time."

"Ne…Neji…do you really mean that?" asked the puzzled girl for whom things seemed to get stranger and stranger for.

"Believe it or not I actually do…I admit that I used to hate you…more than anything else…I resented the fact that you even lived but at the Chunnin exam when we fought and youwouldn't give up...well…I realized how hard you must have had it…you knew that I was better than you and I could see the fear in your eyes but you weren't afraid of me in the least little bit…you were afraid of what your father…and Naruto…would think if you lost."

"Y-You saw all that Neji?"

"That wasn't it…I also saw the look in Naruto's eyes when he watched you fight and when he came down to protect you when he thought I was going to kill you…that look was still there when he beat me too…you're probably the reason that the beat me in the first place...besides...he really cares for you…ask Shino or Kiba about the Bykouchuu mission again and ask them about what he was willing to give up just to get you back."

This, for Hinata, was a rhetorical question of course because there was really only one thing that he could have given up on that particular mission.

"Bykouchuu…he was going to give up Bykouchuu f…for me?"

"They even mentioned that he almost turned into the fox-demon when he thought you were dead…that's some serious emotion that it takes for him to turn into that…if you hadn't stepped in when you did he would have torn them to shreds for sure as that thing."

"Neji…why are you telling me these things…what's in it for you?"

"Nothing…you deserve to be happy and I've seen about every shade of red there is on your face from just thinking about him…well…after the mission I went on with him I realized that he needs you too...he's looked so long for someone that will acknowledge him for who he is and you give him that...if not for you then for him tell him that you care for him as well"

_Naruto-kun…needs m…me_

"Thank you Neji…really."

"O…one more thing…well…maybe I should have mentioned this first but I didn't want to kill your buzz…well…your father's pretty pissed that you were gone for so long so I don't think I would mention Naruto or your round trip to the market…try and look sad even…like I've been scolding you or something because he's bound to know we're out here," Neji said with a smile.

"I'll try…so much has happened today…I just don't know if I can keep it all in."

And with that the two cousins, groceries and all, found their way into the mansion and put on their best "I've scolded you, I've been scolded" faces for the inevitable confrontation with Hinata's father. Despite their best efforts Hinata still received the scolding she knew she had coming

"Hinata…why can't you be more responsible, why can't you b…" but this time things were different. Usually every word her father bashed her with soaked in but not today…today there wasn't anything that he could say that could ruin her day.

_Naruto-kun really cares about me…does he really have a look when it comes to me?…he hides it well when I'm around_

Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought and her father didn't take too kindly to the idea that she was laughing about something during a lecture

"Hinata," he shouted, "have I said something that has amused you in some way. If so I would sure like to know what exactly that was so I may get the joke too."

Neji knew that his cousin had just made a big mistake in that slip-up, one that she was sure to regret.

"N-Nothing father…something…umm…just…tickled me…that's all…something under my jacket."

"That'd best be it then. Neji."

"Yes sir," He said.

"You are to escort my daughter to her room where she shall reside until time for dinner or until I decide what to do with, which ever comes first. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir...erm...Come on Hinata."

Hinata didn't plan on complaining. As far as she could see she was getting off easy and for that she was grateful. This time alone just meant that she would have time to allow the days events to soak in.

"I thought I told you to keep a straight face Hinata?" Neji said sternly as the walked down the hall towards her room, "or do you want to get into even more trouble?"

"I…I'm sorry Neji-kun…I just couldn't hold it any longer," she said with a blush.

"Well try and control yourself better next time…I was afraid he was going to throw you out of the house this time."

Silence struck between them after Neji brought that up again. Her father had threatened to do it before and came very close to doing it a couple of times but she never really believed that he would, never the less she didn't try topush her luck on the matter.

"Well we're here…I guess since you're sentenced here for the rest of the day I should take those."

Hinata had just about forgotten that she was still carrying the brown paper bag full of groceries.

"Umm…yeah…I guess so."

She just about didn't want to give it up but she knew that she had to so she surrendered the bag to him.

As Neji started to walk off he began inspecting the contents of the bag and then he noticed something strange.

"Hinata," he shouted before he turned the corner, "how did this can of peaches get a dent in it?"

With a blush and a smileshe closed the door behind her.

_I guess it must have fallen from cloud nine

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_

**Rasengan2theface:** Well after reading some of my reviews that I got I just couldn't help but put out another chapter…when I'm motivated I'm motivated…so if you want more chapters the I suggest you keep me motivated and we'll see how many I can get out before break ends...Baka...break ends this weekend...well maybe the rest will have to wait until I get back but there WILL BE MORE because it has been demanded of me…I did enjoy your reviews, especially yours BloodOb…well off to NaruHina land again I guess…I look forward to lots of reviews and until next time…later daze


	6. What Girls Know…or Think They Have To

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

**_What Girls Know…or Think They Have To_**

Her sentence was decided. It was worse than fate, it's almost too much to handle. No…no…no dessert for a week. It was a tragedy, for Chouji, but somehow Hinata felt that she would be able to manage considering they generally didn't have dessert unless she fixed it anyway, besides, her father decided that he had probably overreacted and decided to go easy on her because of his blow-up and for that she was relieved, relieved that he wasn't as mad as she first thought and relieved that he hadn't found out about Naruto-kun and that Neji had kept his promise.

_Maybe Neji really has changed…maybe I finally have someone I can talk to_

Sleep soon found Hinata and she dreamed again…she dreamed of the words Naruto didn't say that she wanted to hear…she dreamed of him taking her to the flower shop and him picking out the most beautiful lavender flowers she had ever see.

"_They remind me of your eyes, Hinata. I could sta…_

**Beep beep beep beep beep be** rang over and over until she swung her arm over to hit the snooze button.

"Baka-ne," she muttered as she drug herself out of bed and cursed the alarm clock for awakening her from where she really wanted to be. But regardless she still had to get up because she had to go to a meeting with her team today, and so early too.

She forced herself through her usual routine though. First she threw her clothes from the day before into the hamper that she usually left on the floor next to the bed, this was because she was usually too tired to do anything else with them before she crawled into bed, and she collected new ones from out of her dresser, a pink braand purple pantieswould be nice for today she thought, and she somehow found her way into the shower to wake herself up. After her ritual act of cleanliness was over she dressed in her usual garb and prepared a quick breakfast for her father and Neji before heading out to complete the days scheduled tasks.

As for today there was only the meeting because Kurenai-sensei had spent quite some time in the hospital and was still recovering slightly, even though she didn't want to admit it. Upon reaching the training grounds that were just outside of the forest Hinata found that Shino and Kiba were already waiting there.

"Hi," Hinata said with a smile as she approached the two.

"Yo," Kiba said as he turned to greet her, "what are you so chipper for this early in the morning?"

Kiba obviously hadn't slept well the night before, that and he was used to Kurenai-sensei being in the hospital and not having to do anything for the better part of the day but train.

"No reason," she squeaked out with a blush. She very well knew what her reason was but she felt that it was best that Kiba not know…he tends to blow stuff out of proportion and she didn't want him overreacting in anyway this morning.

Kurenai-sensei finally showed up after about another five minutes or so and with company no less.

"Shino, Kiba, Hinata," she said almost as soon a she had appeared, "you three know Asuma and Kakashi, correct?"

The three nodded in agreement and Hinata blushed a little bit at the twinkle in Kurenai-sensei's eye when she introduced Asuma-sensei.

"Well Tsunade-sama has decided that since I'm now well enough that it's time for my first mission. The three of us will be going on an S-rank mission and should be gone for about a week and a half. I figure that a little more R&R couldn't hurt you so I've decided that you are to have this time off."

"Nani?" Kiba exclaimed, "well then why did you have to get us up so early in the morning to tell us?"

"Because I received word of it yesterday evening and we are having to leave right away. So enjoy your time off and I'll see you three when I get back."

With that the three of them vanished.

"That was sudden, I wonder what mission could have come up so suddenly for them to take off like that." Shino pondered aloud.

"Who cares, ah, we get the time off don't we?" Akamaru echoed Kiba's sentiments with a bark.

"Well I have some errands to run so…umm…I'll see you two later"

"Bye Hinata," Shino and Kiba echoed together in a monotone voice, evidently it was early for Shino as well…well…maybe…she couldn't really tell because Shino still just sounded like Shino.

She didn't dwell on it though…she was far too happy about the past days events, and the fact that she had time to do what she wanted for a week and a half. But she did have a few errands to run that she was going to do after the meeting so she figured that before she celebrated she would knock those out of the way. First she found her way to the post office to mail a letter for her father and to see if a package had arrived, it hadn't, and then she had to deliver a scroll to the hospital, also for her father, and finally to the flower shop because her mother had pointed out that her flowers were wilting and needed to be changed, she figured she'd do her the favor since she had the time. Truthfully it was amazing that they stayed as nice as they did for so long…there was something about the flower's at Ino's family's shop.

When she entered the shop the bell above the door rang to signify the entrance of a customer. Hinata was greeted by the friendly face of Ino who was pouring over the latest issue of Teen Kunoichi Magazine.

"Good morning Hinata-chan. How are you today?" Ino shouted with glee as she greeted the girl who was releasing her from her boredom.

"G-Good thank you," Hinata stuttered as she was still not quite used to how Ino always greeted her with such vigor on each visit. Truthfully she had actually grown to enjoy her visits to the flower shop when Ino was there because of how good of friends they had actually become over it.

"How are you Ino-chan?"

"Bored truth be told and waiting on a pick-up delivery. Actually I have a question if you don't mind me asking."

"Have you noticed," Ino crept a little closer to her from across the counter, "that the boys have been acting strange lately?"

"B-boys…w-who do you mean?" Hinata stammered out as she realized that she was probably talking about Naruto-kun.

"Well not really Shikamaru because he's always weird, although he has been acting like he's up to something, but I mean like…well...Neji's seemed happier lately, like he knows something, and Lee, Naruto and Chouji have been acting strange too. I don't think I've seen Chouji eat a bag of potato chips for a week and Nar…"

"It almost sounds like you're worried about him Ino," a familiar voice shouted as it entered the door. The pink haired med-nin in training came through the door so unexpectedly that it about scared the two of them out of their socks.

"No…why would I be worried about him…hahaha?" she laughed nervously at the accusation.

"Come on Ino," Sakura gleamed, "I know that you picked up that six month cooking class at the academy in the afternoons and that's why you've been skipping out on practices."

"Ino-chan…did you really do that for Chouji?" Hinata asked in the bit of shock she was in. This was as big of a surprise to her as the possibility of Naruto having feelings for her.

Ino looked about the room in a bit of a rush…kind of like she was looking for an exit but couldn't find one. "You can't prove a thing. Besides, did you every stop to think that I may have just wanted to improve my cooking and who told you about that anyway?"

"Tsunade-sama mentioned it to me when she asked if I wanted to take the class, she just happened to tell me that your name was at the top of the list on day one," revealed Sakura with a bit of a smirk, "and besides, Ino-chan, I've had your cooking before and it's not that bad. Why would _you_ want to improve it so badly?"

"I…umm…I…I," Ino had started to sound like Hinata did when she was first around Naruto, "I…well…damn," she conceded.

"You mean to say that you like Chouji, Ino-chan?" Hinata said while her two index fingers began to find each other.

"I…uh…yeah…I wanted to impress him with my cooking and see if he liked me. I knew that if I became a better cook then my chances would be better so I decided to take the class as soon as I heard about it. You think it's stupid that I like him don't you?" As she finished her confessiontears began to well up in her eyes as she asked that question.

"I think that's really sweet of you Ino-chan…I didn't even know you liked Chouji liked that." Hinata said to comfort her friend.

"Yeah, that really is very sweet of you to do. I'm sorry I cornered you about it like that." Sakura added.

"It…it's ok…I feel kinda better about it now…now that someone knows and now that I can talk about it."

Hinata was a little thrown by this development. For one, she had never seen Ino-chan cry like that before, and two, she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed that she had feelings for Chouji. Chouji seemed to be a good guy and all but it was just so unexpected because he didn't seem like her type. Then it hit her that she was getting ready to say something about Naruto-kun but didn't get it out before Sakura-chan had burst in. She waited until Ino had fought back the tears before she decided to ask her.

"Ino-chan…umm…what were you going to say before Sakura-chan came in?"

"About the guys acting weird?" Ino asked, evidently due to her distress she had about forgotten about their conversation.

Hinata nodded her head nervously and Hinata's strong interest peaked Sakura's, kind of like a cat who hears the can opener in the kitchen and knows that it's supper coming.

"Well…Chouji hasn't been eating like he normally does and Lee came in the other day and said something like "I can't turn back in the springtime of youth." and he ordered some flowers but wouldn't say why."

Sakura sighed at this, with Sasuke gone she had really grown fond of Lee but never told anyone about it, the closest anyone came to knowing about it was Tsunade-sama when she asked her about always taking fresh flowers to his room before he had the operation after the Chunnin exam. Tsunade-sama probably knew more than she let on but Sakura didn't care, she knew she was someone she could trust.

"And Naruto's even got me a little worried too…he keeps coming in and looking at all the flowers, but he's never very loud about it which I thought was kinda weird. He even asked me the day before last if I would help him arrange them if he picked some out."

_Naruto-kun has…has a crush on someone else…I knew it was too good to be true_

"Did he ever buy any and say who they were for?" Sakura asked. It was almost as if she was reading Hinata's mind.

"Not yet…it's probably because I told him he'd have to pick a color other than lavender…you know…something that would compliment them but he was just so set on it. I think he might have gotten a little mad about it because he didn't even come in yesterday."

Hinata knew exactly where Naruto was yesterday, well for part of it at least, and right now she just didn't know what to think.

_Naruto-kun…flowers…yesterday…Naruto-kun…_

Her mind just kept racing and Sakura and Ino could see the distress on her face. Sakura began to develop an evil grin but Hinata hadn't noticed it yet.

"Hinata-chan," Sakura said coaxingly, "you wouldn't happen to know why Naruto didn't meet me at the ramen shop or show up hereyesterday would you?"

"I…umm…uh I…I I," Hinata knew she was stuck and her mind was already going haywire from what Ino had revealed.

"It's ok Hinata…calm down…I already know that you have a major crush on Naruto," she snickered a little bit, "it's fairly obvious," Ino nodded her head in agreement, she may be a little self-centered sometimes but this was something that was pretty hard to miss.

"And I was sitting in the ramen shop when you two bumped into each other, but after you two started talking I decided that I would…hehe…disappear. So tells us Hinata-chan…what happened yesterday?"

_Ooo…even if tell them they're just going to tell me that I'm stupid for liking him…_

Hinata couldn't bear it any more thoughand she broke after about another five minutes of the two girls poking and prodding her about the subject. She told them everything they wanted to know.

"…and then Naruto-kun left and I watched him leave." Hinata had finally finished after about fifteen minutes of nervous talking because she wasn't used to being the center of attention, Sakura and Ino for once didn't say a word the whole time. "S-So what do you two think?"

The blonde and pink haired kunoichi both looked at each other after she finished before either gave a response. Sakura was first to speak.

"Hinata," _here it comes…this is where she calls me a baka and they both laugh at me_, "it sounds like he really likes you, I'm so glad for you," Sakura exclaimed as she practically leaped on Hinata and gave her a big hug.

Ino followed in suit, "Me too Hinata, I so wish Chouji would do something like that."

And with that the three of them spent the rest of the day talking their girl talk. Sakura even confessed, after some coaxing from Ino about who she had a crush on, that she had developed a crush on Lee. She was about as embarrassed as Hinata was just thinking about it.

Eventually time came for Ino to close down the shop and the three of them had to leave. The new trio walked down the street together until they were forced to part ways. It was getting late, much later than Hinata had intended on staying out but still not late enough that she would miss dinner. Hinata smiled and waved bye to her friends as she headed off on her own and picked up her pace so as to make sure she wouldn't be late.

_Who knew I would have so much in common with them…they didn't even hate me for liking Naruto-kun…it's so funny what girls know…or should I say what they have to know

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_

**Rasengen2theface:** Ok…I'm officially tired…I can't write anymore…I think this turned out to be a lot bigger than I planed…wait…that's a lie…it was smaller truth be told but…well…I was told I would be beheaded if I didn't get a chapter up soon so here it is…I figured that it would be more than enough anyway…besides…I haven't gotten to the nice and fluffy part…yes…that wasn't fluff…I can still put what else I wanted to in another chapter if I want to...I swear I probably should have been a girl…well I hope you enjoyed this triple chapter and we'll see if I can't make my next one just as long…I think I may have to move my rating up for the next chapter too just so you know…maybe…but until then…later daze


	7. Unusual Query

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

**_Unusual Query_**

Hinata found herself going to the shop everyday that week. She couldn't explain why she enjoyed talking with them about "their boys" other than the fact that she enjoyed getting it off her chest and knowing that there were people other than herself that felt the way she felt and thought the way she thought. It was a nice change from her usual breaks. Eventually the trio of Sakura, Ino and Hinata turned into a quartet. One day Tenten stopped in to the flower shop and was ensnared by yet another of Sakura's traps. Sakura was sure Tenten was a rival for Lee's affection and she was determined to find out. Hinata and Ino knew that it was coming from her evil glare but attempts at stopping her were frivolous. The interrogation took a whole 2 minutes. Sakura and Ino were shocked at what they heard and Hinata couldn't have been more delighted. Tenten had developed feelings for the one and only Hyuuga Neji. Except for training and meetings the four of them were inseparable.

"…and well…then I fell for him." Tenten ended her confession.

"Tenten!" the ever quiet Hyuuga Hinata shouted as she leaped up from her seat and into a huge hug all in one motion.

"Hinata?" Ino and Sakura echoed as their jaws dropped in surprise.

Hinata didn't even know that she was doing what she was doing until it was already done. Tenten was shocked as well, not only was she not expecting to be spilling her heart out about Neji but the last thing she expected was to have anyone, especially Hinata, jump on her and give her a hug. Upon realizing what she had openly done Hinata, as quickly as it had been done, retreated back to her chair with a blush.

"Tenten-chan I…I'm so sor…"

"Don't be," she interrupted, "we're all girls here and besides…it was just so unexpected it just startled me that's all." With that Tenten gave her a reassuring smile and, just as quick as Hinata had, Tenten rushed over and gave Hinata a big hug right back. Sakura and Ino giggled as Hinata turned beet red as the tables turned.

"Well it looks like our little group might be expanding now doesn't it?" Ino chuckled a little as she said this and turned to Sakura.

"Yeah…it sure is," she answered. Feeling left out Ino and Sakura joined Tenten and Hinata in their embrace and they all started to giggle about it.

The rest of the day resulted in the four of them talking and them even helping Ino cut and arrange flowers for some orders that had come in. Ino, who had become quite good at arranging flowers because of her mother's training, showed each of the girls how, depending on the type of flower and how many there were going to be of it, to arrange them and what flowers compliment others and which ones didn't very well. While working on an arrangement Hinata noticed four flowers in the flower casethat caught her attention. She picked them up and took them over to Ino.

"Ino-chan," she called out to her. Ino turned around and saw her and her four companions.

"Yes Hinata-chan…is something wrong?" she asked, perplexed as to why she would have those four particular flowers together since none were going into the arrangement she was working on.

"I was wondering…umm…what are these flowers called?"

Still not understanding why she was asking yet she answered her question without needing to give it much thought.

"Well that purple one you're holding is called a harebell. There are legends about it that it's supposed to be magical. Supposedly itthe place where you can find fairies living."

Hinata was amazed at how this just poured out of her like it was second nature. She supposed that it was because of her mother and the talks they had about flowers.

"and that orange one is a Prairie Lily. It is used by some clans as a medicine that helps reduce swelling and is thought to be very special. The bright yellow one is called a Yellow Lady's Slipper, depending on where you are people call them by different names but none the less they are always beautiful. And that last little blue one is called blue-eyed or lavender-eyed grass. It is used in some teas and is believed to ward off snakes, but mostly people like them just because they're pretty." Ino finally ended with a smile.

"Ino-chan…how do you think they look together?" she asked as she held up the flowers and blushed a little, the yellow and orange on the left and the lavender and purple on the right.

"Well they compliment each other quite well but…" she paused to think for a moment before she spoke again. "well…let me show you." Ino took Hinata's hand and walked her over to where all the flowers were held and picked out the flowers Hinata had shown her and one other Hinata had never see before. She proceeded to arrange them, the two smallest in a row together alternating and the two largest together alternating as well and the other flower in the middle by itself. She then put a rubber band around the bottom of the flowers to hold them together and then handed them to Hinata.

Hinata stared at them in awe at how well Ino had arranged them and so quickly too, especially the lavender and orange flower that joined them in the middle. Sometime during the process Tenten and Sakura had taken notice of Ino's task and stopped what they were doing in order to witness the creation that was unfolding before them.

"What is it?" Tenten asked as she walked up next to Hinata to inspect the flower more closely, "the flower in the middle I mean…I feel like I've seen it somewhere before but I'm not sure where."

"You haven't…I'm fairly certain of that," Ino said with pride, "because it's a hybrid."

"You mean to say that it's a combination of two different flowers?" Sakura asked as she also grew closer to inspect the flower.

"Yep…my mother made it using a technique that she discovered. Some how she takes two bulbs or seeds, it has to be one or the other and not both, and sort of fuses them together to make a new type of flower."

"What's its name?" Hinata looked up at her and asked.

"Well it's a mix between a Tiger Lily and a type of Pansy so I guess you could call it a Tigensy." They all laughed at the name a little after Ino told it to them.

"I like them a lot," Hinata said very softly, "thank you Ino-chan."

"Don't mention it," Ino drew in a little closer to whisper in Hinata's ear, "I figured I'd arrange it so that it mixed a little of you both together in there."

Hinata blushed a violent red when Ino revealed that she had discovered why she had chosen those flowers.

"I tell you what," Ino announced as she pulled away from Hinata's ear, "let's all pick out our own flowers and arrange them…after we're done we can put them out on display in the front, I'm sure my mother won't mind too much."

Although Hinata's was already done all the girls loved the idea and hurried over to the flower case. Each picked out four flowers of their liking; Sakura's being tiny red Roses, pink Cherry Blossoms, orange Tiger Lilies and some Baby's Breath to mostly add some green. Tenten picked out some pink Prairie Wild Roses, Blue Aster, Baby's Breath and Black-Eyed Susan's that had a bit of a lavender tint to them near the middle. Ino picked out some green and red tinted Carnations, some dark Violets and Dogwood blooms. After Hinata and Ino both helped to arrange each girls flowers Ino went and found one of her mother's creations to use as the centerpiece. Each of which combined the two main colors the girls chose. They couldn't help be look in awe at the creations they had made and dreamt a little moreabout the boy they dreamt of while picking out the flowers. Ino found vases for each so each bouquet could keep water and the special preservative her mother invented in itso itwould last much longer. Talk between them soon shifted to the boys in question. They talked until lunch.

"How about we take a break and go find something to eat?" Ino proposed.

They all agreed that it was more than time that they had found something to fill their bellies.

"Mom," Ino screamed to the very back of the story where her mother was working on creating some new bulbs, "we're heading out to lunch…we'll be back in an hour."

The girls headed out and treated themselves to the ramen shop,that was after they coaxed Hinata into joining them after they proved that Naruto wasn't there of course. An hour passed and they headed back to the shop just as promised.

Ino's mother was standing behind the counter as they came through the door. As they each came through the door they each raised their hand up to wave and say hello but as soon as their hands got up to about shoulder height and they had gotten the first syllable out they all froze white in the face and not able to speak. Ino was first to find such courage.

"Mo…mother…where are the flowers that were out on display on the front counter."

"O those…I sold them," she said with a smile, "that's what they were there for isn't it?"

With that all four girls hit the floor from sheer shock. How was it that she could possibly sell their hopes and dreams away? Alas, after quite an interrogation, her mother just couldn't seem to remember who she had sold them to…evidently there had been quite a few people in and out of the shop while they were gone, probably on their lunch breaks, and she had sold them to some of them.

"Seeing how you all really put your hearts into the first half of the day why don't you all head out and do something fun…go shopping or something." Ino's mother suggested.

They all agreed, it was better than moping around inside all day. They headed to the shopping district to splurge a little on themselves with the money Ino's mother kindly decided to pay them for their troubles.

After a good five hours worth of time going in and out of various clothing stores and different shops they decided that it was about time to head home to, in the very least, drop their things off. This was the longest Hinata had ever been out shopping before and certainly the most money she had ever spent on just herself, she felt kind ofbad about all the money that had disappeared so quickly. As they were headed out of their final store and down the street that leads out of the shopping district. Hinata noticed a familiar figure headed towards them with both hands behind his head, it was none other than Shikamaru.

Hinata raised her hand to wave but he seemed rather interested in the clouds overhead so she decided that it would be in vain.

"You really shouldn't keep them waiting much longer," he said smugly as he passed, "they may be persistent but they won't wait there for forever."

"What was that Shikamaru?" Ino shouted angrily at her Chunnin teammate.

"You heard me…you should probably hurry home because they probably won't be there much longer," and with that he turned the corner and headed into one of the stores.

Perplexed, and a little curious, the girls picked their pace up a little to see who it was Shikamaru said was waiting. Sakura's place was on the way for all of them so they all decided to hurry there first. Upon making it over the hill to Sakura's house they could all see someone standing outside of the gate but couldn't really tell who it was, all but Hinata. She knew exactly who it was, even from that distance. Sakura was first to reach him.

"Naruto…what are you doing here?" Sakura asked in a slightly winded voice.

"Sakura-chan I…," he stopped once he saw the other three coming up behind her, "I…uh…need to talk to you about something…umm…in private."

Hinata and the others had just gotten there in time to catch the very end.

"Umm…sure Naruto," she looked back at the other three behind her with a sigh, "we can go inside and talk."

She opened the gate and reluctantly let him in, she could imagine what Hinata was going through right now. Sakura knew that Hinata knew that Naruto had had a crush on her for a long time but everybody had thought that that was done and over with and in the past. She could only hope she was wrong about why he was there.

"I guess you guys should head on then, ok?" she looked at Hinata like she was trying to tell her that it'd be ok and she was going to turn him down but she wasn't looking, she couldn't.

Tenten and Ino took Hinata by either arm and headed for the crossroads, both trying to console her as best they could. They too knew that there was probably someone waiting for them at home as well. They could only hope as to who it was. Eventually they made it to the crossroads and parted ways. Hinata was afraid, she didn't want to know who could be waiting for her, as long as it wasn't Naruto-kun it wasn't important. As she crept close to her home she looked up at her gate to see…no one was there. They had probably grown tired of waiting and left, she was grateful. She headed towards her room, it had been a stressful day and she wanted to rest for a bit before supper. As she turned the corner she noticed someone sitting up against her door.

"Neji-kun?" she said, barley audible.

"Hinata," he rose to his feet, "I wanted to ask you something…is that ok?"

_Not Neji-kun…he couldn't possibly…could he?…not after all the things I told him_

"I can't Neji-kun…I…I just can't."

"But Hinata, you don't even know my question."

"I don't need you to tell me…I already know it…it's the same as the one Naruto-kun is asking Sakura-chan," she began to tear up just thinking about it and started to open the door to her room.

"Hinata," he pulled the door back shut, "what so bad about me asking you to…"

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**Rasengan2theface: **Do I end it here…hmm…let us think…how many reviews would I get if I did…probably a lot…mostly death threats but there would be bunches of them…that's awful tempting since you can't find me…I'll make a deal with you…give me a bunch of reviews for this one and I'll finish it now and I won't do this to you again…well…I'm waiting on a decision here…o…you want it that badly huh?…ok…I'm a nice guy…sometimes…so here you go...it'll be way down there, count to ten and you'll be there just like that,sorry but I don't want you peeking on me now now do I?…so back to you Neji-san… 

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"…teach me how to dance?"

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**Rasengan2theface:** Well that was painless now wasn't it…remember now…lots of reviews on this one ok…I just couldn't help myself on that…a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do…I do have one question for you guys though…what would you think if I started a Chouji/Ino fic in addition to this one…I want to but I'm not sure if you'd kill me if I took time away from this…tell me what you think and we'll see what happens…well so I can avoid all the kunai you're about to throw at me I guess I'll let you go…until next time…later daze 


	8. Dance Dance

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**Dance Dance**_

"…teach me to dance?"

Hinata, expecting the worst, was braced for what her cousin should never ask, but it wasn't there.

"Neji-kun," she said as the tears she was fighting began to disappear, "say that again. I'm not quite sure I heard you."

She wasn't being sarcastic either, while trying to enter her room her head was racing and trying to not conceive the impossible and trying to remove the thought of Naruto-kun still having feelings for Sakura-chan.

"I was wondering if you would teach me to dance"

"But why Neji-kun?" Hinata couldn't think of any reason he would need to know.

"Be…because of the festival next month. It's been heard that Tsunade-sama has decided to include a ball as part of the festival this year and I…," the last thing Neji said was so muffled Hinata couldn't hear.

"Neji-kun, you need to speak up. I couldn't hear that last part." Hinata had never seen Neji like this. It was almost like he didn't want to admit what he was about to say.

"I can't dance!" he shouted, maybe a little too loudly because heads peaked out of a few doors to see what the ruckus was about.

Neji had never admitted that he couldn't do something, it was out of his character. He held a little too much pride in that department and didn't really like to ask for help unless it was offered and even then he acted like he was doing you a favor by letting you help him. Hinata was still in a bit of shock because of all that Neji had just revealed.

_A ball at the festival…so that's why Naruto-kun went to Sakura-chan's…but he could have went there to ask her to go to it with him_

"Can we maybe talk about this inside somewhere?" Neji asked seeming a little nervous about anyone knowing that he couldn't do something.

"Ok," and with that Hinata opened the door to her room and motioned for Neji to follow her.

Hinata found a seat on her bed while Neji decided that sitting backwards on her desk chair that faced that way anyway would be more comfortable. They sat there for a moment, Hinata waiting on Neji's explanation and Neji to find the words for it.

Neji started again, "Well…see…with the ball coming up and all me and the guys were going to ask Tsunade-sama if she'd teach us since she decided that all of us were required to go but Naruto was afraid that she'd pummel him if he stepped on her toes so…well…we decided on the next best thing…we decided to ask you guys to teach us since we all know each other pretty well, especially you and me since we're cousins and well…we didn't want to ask anybody until we knew how."

_Naruto-kun…could that be why he went to Sakura-chan's?_

"So will you teach me Hinata?" he begged.

"Under one condition," she insisted. It wasn't like Hinata to make any sort of demand but Neji was desperate and didn't want to question it.

"Anything…anything you want." Neji had answered so quickly that Hinata had barely enough time to finish her demand.

"Was the reason Naruto was at Sakura's the same as yours for being here?"

"Yeah…he went to Sakura's since they're on the same team and Chouji ended up Tenten's and Lee went to Ino's. Shikamaru decided that he didn't need it because he's already been to balls held by the Hidden Village of the Sand with Temari. How those two get along I'll never know…"

_Naruto-kun…I knew I should have never doubted you_

"So now will you teach me Hinata-chan?"

"I'd be delighted," she looked at the clock above her desk, "but it'll be right after dinner, ok?"

"Ok," he said with a smile as he rose to get the door. Hinata had rarely ever seen Neji smile, not a real one anyway.

They had a rather peaceful and cheery dinner that night, ramen and pork miso to Hinata's delight. It reminded her of Naruto-kun. After dinner the two of them headed back to Hinata's room for the first lesson.

"Well Neji-kun," she paused for a moment to think while taking a seat on her bed, "what is it that you do know about dancing?"

"Well…umm…I know it requires a guy and a girl…," Neji blushed. Hinata giggled at this. She had never seen this Neji before. "…and that's about it really."

Hinata stood up and walked over to the middle of the room.

"Come over here and stand next to me." She made sure that she was heard and Neji acknowledged that he had by following her orders.

"Ok. Now there are several different ways to do this, I assume that you're referring to mostly slow dances since…um…you're so nervous about this." Hinata was trying to take this seriously for Neji but she couldn't help but let her mind drift and wish that it was Naruto-kun she was about to dance with.

"One way…for something like a waltz or something…is to take your right hand and her left and hold them out like this…" Hinata took Neji's right hand with her left and showed him how it was to be held to the side, "and then you put your other hand on her waist."

Hinata continued on with the description of the steps and other formalities. They painfully attempted to practice the movements for around an hour only to find that Neji, despite all of his ninja training, had two left feet.

"One, two, thr…ow," was all Hinata could get out before Neji had stepped on her bruised feet again.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan…I guess there had to be at least one thing that I wasn't good at and this happened to be it," Neji admitted.

An idea struck Hinata. It was a shot but it might just work because unless he was there it helped to calm her down too.

"Ok, Neji, let's try this one more time but this time we're going to do something different. This time I want you to close your eyes."

"But if I close my eyes how am I going to see if I'm going to run us into anything or if I'm going to step on your feet?"

"Just trust me on this, ok? Now take my hand and close your eyes and just listen to me."

Neji did as he was told and stepped next to her and closed his eyes.

"Now before we do anything else I want you to imagine something. Imagine the girl you want to ask…the one you really want to go to the ball with and describe her to me."

Hinata figured that if he could focus more on something else other than the surroundings and his feet that hers wouldn't be quite as bruised in the morning. Besides, a little prying wouldn't hurt.

"Now describe her…what's she wearing…how's her hair done…is she wearing perfume?"

Neji paused at first, reluctant to reveal anything, but ultimately yielding defeat.

"She…she's wearing a pink and black dress…mostly black but the pink's in the embroidery…she's wearing her hair down with a strand in front of her face…she doesn't wear it down much because she says it gets in the way and can get tangled in her weapons but today it doesn't matter and…and she smells of…of wild roses."

Neji started to drift off into his mind, losing track of reality.

"Neji-kun," Hinata shook him a little to bring him back to earth, "now keep your eyes closed and her in your mind and let's try this again."

Hinata began to count again and Neji began to lead. Five minutes and less than one toe stepped on later he had perfected it.

"Well that seems to have worked Neji-kun," Hinata said with a bit of a giggle as she and her cousin spun about the room. Neji opened his eyes and blushed a bit when he realized that she was right.

"Well now I think we can move on." Hinata paused nervously as she realized what was next to come. "N-now if they played something t-that we would listen to," Neji's face grew with concern as his cousin's face began to grow ghostly white, "umm…you would have to take both hands and place them on her hips and she'd put them around your…your shoulders." Hinata's mind was drifting again as she was beginning to imagine Naruto-kun standing there instead of Neji and the two of them beginning to dance like that. "And if…if you really want and she acts like she doesn't mind then you can pull her really close and…and…," Hinata started to turn incredibly red just imagining it, "I guess we don't have to go over this one since it's kind of self-explanatory."

"That's alright Hinata," he said as he placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder, "we can stop here for tonight."

"Neji-kun…you and Tenten will be a nice match," she blurted out as he began to walk away.

"Hinata…how did you…how did you know?"

"Simple…you told me…when you were describing her as you would like her to look at the ball…I…I could just tell."

"All that huh?...well I guess perceptions of the heart run in the family now don't they?" He smiled another one of those smiles he used when he thought of her. Hinata knew that was what fueled that smile now.

They continued their routine for about a week before Neji had become quite good at all that Hinata needed to teach him. This was true for all the girls except Tenten, surprisingly enough, Chouji proved to be quite graceful and an excellent student and mastered everything quite quickly. He finished his "training" in less than four days.

"…and that's about it. For such an occasion there really isn't much else you need to know," Hinata concluded.

"Hinata-chan I can't thank you enough…now all that's left is the hard part huh?"

Hinata blushed just thinking about how Tenten would react if she only knew but before she had left for the shop on the second day of lessons Neji made sure that she swore to silence about his feelings for Tenten, he wanted it to be a surprise when he asked her to the ball.

"There is one last thing…we decided the other day that to show our appreciation that we wanted to take you all out for dinner tomorrow night…you know…a sensei-student sort of thing."

"Ai," she responded, "tomorrow it is."

Neji nodded his head, turned and headed out the door to his room.

It was late, around eleven or so, so Hinata decided that it was time for her to strip off and crawl into bed.

_Dinner with Naruto-kun…maybe I…maybe I'll get to dance with Naruto-kun…if his date doesn't occupy him all night or he doesn't have one…I hope he doesn't have one…just…one dan…_

Hinata's mind didn't make it any farther. It soon found her dreams.

**Beep beep beep beep be…**

_Every time there's a good dream…sigh…I guess it can't be helped_

And with that Hinata entered her same habitual routine for the morning before heading out to the shop. Hinata still didn't have any missions or training because Kurenai-sensei still hadn't returned from her mission, last report said that they were having trouble tracking someone down and it would take a little longer than expected. As Hinata was about to head out the front gate Neji called out to her.

"Hinata…you're going to the shop now right?"

She nodded her head, "I should be there most of the day since Kurenai-sensei isn't back."

"Ok…just make sure that you're all still there at around four…the guys and I will be there to pick you all up and go eat."

"Ai," she blushed just thinking about dinner with Naruto-kun, even though it wasn't really withhim,and headed off to the shop.

Hinata arrived there just a few minutes after Ino and her mother opened up the shop. They didn't have to wait but half an hour before Sakura and Tenten showed up with breakfast in tow. Hinata had already had toast that morning but she figured a little something else couldn't hurt since they had went through the trouble of getting it. Over breakfast the four of them couldn't help but gossip about where they thought they were going to take them tonight and all hoping that it would be the new restaurant that had just opened up with the rooftop dining. Granted it was the person they had been teaching that was taking them out on a friendly date but they still knew that the person they really wanted it to be with would be there and that made it all worthwhile. Orders came in and orders came out and lunch time finally arrived. Just in case they were going somewhere well worth it it was decided that lunch would be a light one so they would be sure to have an appetite. Four o'clock crept closer and closer and the girls grew more and more eager. **Gong**...their attention shifted to the sound of the grandfather clock next to the door…**Gong…Gong**

_One more…come on…one more_

**Gong… ding ding **

The door swung open and entered the four boys that they had all waited on all day long for.

"Are you all about ready to go?" asked Neji who had come through the door first.

"Yeah…we are," Tenten answered with a small blush as she saw "her man" come through the door.

"Well we have a small stipulation first," Neji added. The four boys walked over to their "dates" and held out a blindfold.

"No blindfolds equal no dinner Sakura-chan," teased Naruto as he waved his small token of power in front of her before receiving a smack to the head.

"Please wear it Tenten-chan…I haven't eaten since lunch today and I don't think I can make it much longer," Chouji grumbled while rubbing his growling stomach.

"Here you go Ino-chan…the Springtime of Youth's dinner awaits us!" Lee shouted in his usual manner as he handed Ino her blindfold that strangely looked a lot like one of Lee's arm bandages.

"We want this place to be a surprise tonight," Neji revealed as he began wrapping the blindfold around his cousin's eyes.

After the blindfolds were around the girls eyes they were taken by the arm by each boy and led out the door. Ino and Lee were the last out.

"We're gone Mom…I'll see you at home tonight," Ino shouted not knowing that her mother was standing by the door to hold it open.

"What sweet boys," she said to herself as she turned and began to ready the store for closing at five.

The girls walked in darkness for around ten or fifteen minutes while hearing "I never would have guessed"s and "I never would have thought"s before they stopped.

"Tada," the boys shouted in unison as the removed the blindfolds from their eyes.

The neon sign that rested on the front of the five story building in front of them read "Akimori's" in bright red letters.

This wasn't a place that any of the girls were familiar with.

"Where is this place Lee…I've never heard of it before?" Ino looked back and asked.

"I'm sure you've heard of that new place with…"

"THE ROOFTOP DINING!" the girls shouted as they clung together jumping up and down.

"So you have heard of it," Lee concluded as he watched the girls' excitement envelop them in a rather dramatic matter.

"Come on…we've got a table reserved for sixth floor," Naruto gleamed as the girls realized what that meant.

They entered and gave the name they had left the reservation under and were immediately led to a glass elevator that took them to the top. Upon reaching the top they were led to a table and told that their waiter would be with them shortly. Each boy took a place behind a chair and pulled them out. The girls took this as a sign that somewhere along the line they had learned some manners, even Naruto, and took their seats which were pushed up against them. The seating arrangement looked something like this…

_The seating arrangement_

_-----Neji, Hinata_

_Tenten---------- Naruto_

_Chouji---------- Sakura_

_--------Ino, Lee_

After some chitchat between them and looking over the menus their waiter showed up to take their orders. All the boys ordered a steak of some kind that came with baked potatoes or fries even though Naruto had asked if they had any ramen of any kind, he took what he could while Chouji ended up ordering two 16 ouncers for his light dinner. The girls on the other hand ordered a wider variety of things, Ino ordered chicken and broccoli over steamed rice, Sakura decided on a mild curry chicken, Tenten chose to have a small hamburger steak with whole potatoes and Hinata ordered the fried shrimp and chicken. The dinner was rather typical, even after their rather delicious food came. They mostly talked about the missions and training, or lack there of, that they recently had been doing. The guys would break off into discussions about the new jutsu they were learning while, if only to keep themselves from staring at the boy they were almost sitting next to, the girls ran off into their usual drabble that excluded their talk about their company. Eventually the girls found that it was about time to "go powder their noses" and they excused themselves from the table.

"We'll be right back…we have to go powder our noses," Sakura said as the four of them rose to their feet and headed to find a restroom.

"Alright…we'll be right where you left us," Naruto said as he looked over his shoulder and watched the girls step into the elevator. They didn't take long seeing as they were headed back to the elevator in less than five minutes.

"What took you guys so long…you took forever," Naruto asked as they were reseated by the boys.

"We so were not," Sakura interjected as she looked up to notice that Naruto hadn't yet taken his seat, neither had Neji, Chouji or Lee. Hinata had noticed it too and she hadn't taken her eyes off of him since she had noticed how he was looking at Sakura now.

"There's something we wanted to ask you girls," Lee said as he took Ino's hand, the others followed suit as they took the hand of the girl they were seated next to.

Hinata couldn't help but begin to feel disappointment and grief as she tore her eyes away from Naruto to look up and see her cousin looking at her with eyes that she had only seen him direct one other place.

_This can't be…Neji-kun…Neji-kun s-said that he liked Tenten-chan…he knows how I feel about Naruto-kun…Naruto-kun…I thought you…I thought you had finally noticed me

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_

**Rasengan2theface:** Heart wrenching ain't it…AHHH…wait wait wait just a minute…before I'm disemboweled please read the next chapter…ok…BloodOb…easy now…that vein doesn't look too good…well I'm gonna run before I get killed so read the next chapter and review so I can know how much you hate me now…until then…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…run away...umm…I mean…later daze…AHHH


	9. Proclamation of the Heart

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**Proclamation of the Heart**_

Each of the boys took a knee and placed their free hands against the ground. In doing so each of the boys went "poof" into a puff of smoke. Before the smoke could clear there appeared a bouquet of flowers before the girls, each with a flower centered in the middle that they had only seen in one other place before.

"Go to the ball with us?" the boys shouted in unison.

"Ne-Neji-kun…I can't…I thought I already told you," Hinata stammered with her head turned away, still in shock over the fact that her cousin was doing the unthinkable.

"But I'm not Neji…take a closer look," the voice from the smoke said.

Hinata looked up and found, through the clearing smoke, these two bright blue eyes that could only belong to one person she knew.

"Na…Naruto-kun?" asked the puzzled kunoichi.

The smoke completely cleared now and Hinata noticed that Chouji had appeared before Ino and Lee before Sakura and Neji before Tenten. She then looked back down only to find Naruto kneeling before her.

"You never answered my question Hinata-chan…will you go to the ball with me?" Naruto said with a beaming smile as he continued to hold out the flowers for her to take.

"Naruto-kun…I…I," the words were escaping her, they were just no where to be found.

"It's been driving me mad ever since Granny Tsunade told us about the ball…I knew you were the one that I wanted to go with from that very moment so please tell me you'll say yes."

Hinata reached up with her free hand and pinched herself on the arm.

_It hurt…it really hurt…does that mean that this is real and not one of my dreams…Naruto-kun is really holding my hand and asking me to the ball_

Hinata began to blush an unimaginable red at the realization.

"Is that a yes Hinata-chan?" Naruto questioned as he recognized her reaction.

"Naruto-kun," still too embarrassed for words she nodded her head in confirmation at her dream turned reality and took the flowers from his hand.

"Hinata-chan," he shouted in elation as he leapt up and embraced her.

This proved to be a tad too much for Hinata to handle because as soon as the deed had been done she collapsed in Naruto's arms.

**Beep beep beep be**

Hinata began her ritual bashing of her alarm clock before she realized where she was.

"Good morning sleepy head," a voice said out of the corner of the room, "you sure have been out a long time."

Hinata looked up through her sleepy eyes to see Neji sitting in his usual perch, sitting backwards in her desk chair.

"So it was a dream, wasn't itNeji-kun?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but…it wasn't a dream Hinata…last night the guys and I asked you all to go to the ball with us and Naruto asked you and…you said yes." Neji smiled a little bit as he leaned back and swung out of the chair and headed over to her bed.

"Then if it wasn't a dream how did I end up here?"

"That's an easy one…after you passed out on Naruto we paid out bill and he carried you home…everybody came back here to see if you were going to wake up soon but as it got later and later they eventually headed on home…Ino and Chouji left first and then Lee and Sakura and once it hit eleven I walked Tenten home, but Naruto insisted on staying until you woke up because he felt that it was his fault…hehe…when I got back he was passed out on the floor next to your bed so I woke him up and told him he'd better head back to his place, buthe made me promise that I'd stay in here until either you woke up or he got back here today and so…well…here I am."

"N-Naruto-kun carried me here and was asleep in my floor?"

"Yeah…I told him that the Henge no Jutsu was going overboard a bit and that we could just take a knee to our right and summon the flowers and that would be fine but he wouldn't have anything to do with it and turned into me so we had to go along with it and followed suit."

"This…it's all so much."

"I know," Hinata started to rise out of her bed, "but you need to rest some more…I think Naruto might try and kill me if he doesn't find you in bed when he gets back." Neji couldn't help but crack a smile at what he had just said, Hinata did too.

Hinata rolled herself onto her side and tucked herself back in and closed her eyes but as Neji was headed out the door she opened them again and noticed a vase full of the most beautiful flowers and then it hit her.

_Those are the flowers Ino-chan helped me arrange at the shop_

"Neji-kun," Neji stopped and stuck his head back though the door he was already half way through, "where did those flowers come from?"

"Heh…o those…I guess we kind of surprised you all with those didn't we," Neji stepped back in and took a seat on the end of Hinata's bed, "well we were all going to the flower shop the other day to ask you all if you'd teach us to dance…when we got there Ino's mom told us that you had gone out to lunch and figured that you wouldn't be back for another fifty minutes or so…well we noticed these four bouquets of flowers sitting on the front counter and asked her about them…she said that she thought that you all had arranged them and set them out for display because she hadn't put them there and they weren't on any orders for the day…we asked her how much they'd be but she told us that she couldn't possibly sell them since you had obviously put a lot of effort into them…well we got discouraged and started to leave and that's when Shikamaru showed up…evidently his father had some apologizing to do to his mother and he wanted him to pick up some flowers for him…we told him about our predicament and that's when he came up with the idea for the dinner… "

_So that's why Shikamaru knew they were waiting for us…I don't know whether to thank him or kill him_

"…Naruto pleaded our case to Ino's mother and told her what the flowers were going to be used for…she refused to let us pay for them and even threw in the vase and put in a special formula into the water that would make sure that the flowers wouldn't wilt for at least two weeks…after that she shooed us out the door just to make sure that we weren't there when you got back," Neji finally finished as he took a deep breath, he hadn't expected to take that long in the explanation but it just kind of turned out that way.

_So that's why Ino-chan's mother down played selling the flowers…she's a sneaky one_

"Who brought them here Neji-kun?"

"Naruto did…he insisted that he carry you and the flowers and we weren't about to say no…I guessI forgot to mention that part," Neji said as he rose to his feet, "well I'm gonna go ahead and go since you're awake so you rest now."

"Ok Neji-kun and…thank you."

"No problem Hinata-chan," and with that he finally left the room.

_Naruto-kun carried me here…with my flowers too…he gave me "our" flowers…Naruto-kun_

Hinata could feel her eyes getting heavier as she started to drift off to sleep again. As she was drifting off she heard a small tapping at her door and the door knob turn.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto greeted her as he entered. It was too late though, she was asleep again before she could respond.

* * *

**Rasengan2theface:** The doctor says I should be fine within a few days rest…the kunai wounds missed all the vital spots so my stitches should be fully healed by the time my next chapter comes out…see now…I'm not such a bad guy after all and you got worked up over nothing…well…almost nothing…well I'm still thinking about the Chouji/Ino fic but I'll tell you if that's going to happen anytime soon or not…well I guess that's it for now so I'm expecting lots of reviews telling me that you love me again and until the…may my stitches heal and later daze 


	10. Awaken to a Dream

Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

* * *

_**Awaken to a Dream**_

_Hmm…what a nice dream…it almost sounded like Naruto was actually here too…sigh_

Hinata couldn't help but think about the dream that had seemed all to real to her as she brought her hands back down under the covers with her eyes still closed.

"Hinata-chan?" a voice from across the room said softly.

_O gods_

Hinata immediately stopped what she was doing, or about to do, and looked up to the other side of the room to find the concerned face of Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun…what are you still doing here?" she asked as she looked at her clock to see that it was almost five in the afternoon.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were ok since…it was my fault and all," he said with a grimace as he stared at the floor at the foot of the bed and scratched the back of his head.

_Why does Naruto-kun feel so responsible about ME fainting?…I was the one that lost control and fainted…not him…he shouldn't beat himself up like that_

"And there's one more thing…umm," Naruto got up from his perch across the room, the same as Nejiusually takes,and walked over and took a seat at the end of Hinata's bed, "you don't mind if I…"

"N-No…not at all," she shuddered as she drew up her legs to give him more room at the end of the bed.

"Ok…well this is silly but I guess I just need to hear it even though I already know the answer…at least I hope I do," Naruto took a knee next to her at the side of the bed and took the hand of hers that was closest to him.

_Is Naruto-kun doing what I think he's doing?…is he actually going to ask ME that question?_

"Hinata-chan…will you do me the honor of…going to the ball with me?"

_Oh…that question…maybe that wasa little bit of high hopes_

"Of…of course I will Naruto-kun…what makes you think I would have changed my answer?"

"I guess I just wanted to here it so I could make sure that I wasn't dreaming," he laughed a little at this, more like a nervous chuckle really, and Hinata blushed at the inclination that he was the one that thought it was a dream.

"Well I guess I should go then…I promised Lee that I would spare with him sometime today and try to teach him how to do the Henge himself this time instead of having to do it for him and you should probably rest some more…I don't want you fainting on me again," Naruto said with a grin to the blushing kunoichi before him as he stood up to leave.

Naruto made it about halfway out the door before Hinata found the words she had been looking for.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Huh," he answered as he stuck his head back through the door, "you should get back to resting Hinata and as much as I hate to I should really go."

"…umm…the flowers from the shop…thank you Naruto-kun," she squeaked out as she turned a brilliant shade of scarlet.

"Oh yeah…those…when I saw them in the shop I knew who they needed to be for but Ino's mom was more stubborn than Granny Tsunade about giving them up, until we told her who they were for that is," he said as he flashed her another one of those smiles and her face was engulfed in a sea of red so bright she looked like a traffic light.

"Hinata, are you ok…you look awfully flushed," he said as he took a couple of steps back into the room and next to the side of her bed, "let me check and see if you actually have a fever."

As Naruto ended the sentence he leaned over and placed a hand on her forehead and Hinata did her best to contain her bliss at Naruto-kun being so close to her once again.

"I don't know…I can't really tell…Granny Tsunade told me about this...let's see if this'll work"

And Naruto leaned over even more and very gently placed both of his lips on her forehead in replacement of his hand.

_Naruto-kun is…you are…he…he's…is he doing what I was dreaming he'd do…_

"Well you do seem a little warm but I don't think you're si…Hinata…Hinata," Naruto sighed, "Baka…she passed out again."

**Beep beep beep be**

"Not again…I did it again," Hinata complained as she hit the snooze and turned off the alarm.

"Good morning again…I swear if you keep this up you'll make Rip van Winkle jealous," came a familiar voice from across the room again.

"Good morning Neji-kun…how long was it this time?" she questioned at the sound of her cousin from across the room, once again in his usual perch at her desk.

"Only about an hour and a half this time…long enough for me to convince Naruto that if he ever wanted to see you up and out of bed again that he'd need to leave…as for you though…what did he do this time?"

_Oh gods…can I tell Neji this…would he tell anybody else…who would he tell…maybe Tenten-chan but she'll know about it soon enough and I doubt that he'd tell Lee-kun…_

"He…he checked…he check my temperature," she blurted out before she finished convincing herself that she was actually going to tell him.

"Ha…what's so bad about that…it's not like he kissed you or anything," he joked as his cousin looked as far away as she could from him and began to blush, Neji realized that he had struck a cord, "or did he?"

"Ye…yeah," she said softly, "but only on the forehead and that's the last thing I remember really."

"Heh…well well well…that's why he was throwing such a fit about it…well, just to change the subject,if you're hungry, seeing how you've not eaten all day, there are still some leftovers from dinner…I could bring them if you would like."

Hinata hadn't noticed how hungry she was but upon the mention of food her stomach began to rumble.

"That would be nice Neji-kun…thank you."

"No problem…that's what cousins are for."

Neji closed the door behind him and Hinata slid back down underneath the covers to allow herself to think about all that had happened to her in the past few days and more importantly what had happened only a little while ago. Neji didn't take long in coming back with what was left from dinner though, ramen and miso pork again.

"I hope this is alright…I even heated it up a little bit," Neji said as he entered to door backwards, "and you'd better eat up too because you've got a big day tomorrow."

"Big day…what are you talking about Neji-kun?"

"O…that's right…you hadn't heard yet, I guess I figured Naruto would have told you…Kurenai-sensei is back and she wants to meet with your team tomorrow morning at 10," he ended as he sat the tray with a bowl of miso pork, a rice ball and ramen on her lap.

"Kurenai-sensei's back…that's great…when did they get back?"

"Earlier today I think…maybe even last night…all I know is that she sent the message this morning saying that you were to have the team meeting tomorrow morning."

"Ok…I guess that means I should get back to bed in an hour or two then…I just don't think I can sleep though…I've been doing that all day."

"Well when in doubt train but after two of your spells so close together I wouldn't push myself if I were you…ok?" Neji said with a concerned voice for his cousin.

"Ok…I won't…I'll go to the pond in the courtyard and practice my chakra control then…you could come and train with me if you like."

After all that Neji had done for Hinata recently she felt that extending an invitation to train with her wouldn't be out of bounds, it was nice to have someone that she could train with whenever if need be and since she and Neji had become so much closer it made it easier to ask him.

"I may just do that…let me go change into something I wouldn't mind getting wet and let you finish eating and I'll meet you out there," Neji concluded as he headed back out the door, "you know, it's a shame that you couldn't train with Naruto like this…it'd do you both a lot of good."

Neji closed the door before Hinata could answer or even begin to blush. She'd thought about what it would be like to train with Naruto-kun before, she'd even had dreams about it but they had never ended with them just training. She'd always refrained from making any kind of offer like that because of_those_ dreams and her own high expectations, not to mention the potential for awkward situations. But she couldn't help but think to herself

_How wonderful it would be to awaken to a dream like that

* * *

_

**Rasengan2theface:** Ah yes…I have finally returned…I'm sorry about the long wait but…I hit a major writer's block and didn't find a way out of it until two things happened…I broke the depression I was falling into and BloodOb gave me the greatest idea that inspired how this chapter turned out…btw I'd like to remind people that this is a "relationship" fic and if you're looking for a lemon then that's not going to happen…yet…it will come later and probably in several different forms…probably when I do my own time jump because they're only kids right now and that's just weird…I'm not saying that there won't be innuendos here and there, like at the beginning of this chapter, but there won't be any freakiness for a little while…I plan on making this the longest NaruHina fic out there so there will be plenty of time for that stuff later…moving on now…seeing how I've been gone for so long tell me what you think and even send me a few ideas this way…I've already got a one for a mission along the way BUT I'm going to need ideas for names for shinobi from the Hidden Rock village, two guys and a girl, so if you have an opinion of any sort throw me a review…I just hit my 31st review the other day but I want to see about half that for my next chapter…I know that there are a bunch of you that have added this to your favs and alerts and I want to hear from you the most…if you added this to those then that means you like this and I want to make this fic better for you so let me know what you think, what you liked, what you didn't…well…I'm going to go…there's this thing called class that I have to attend tomorrow and sleep is needed before that…until we meet again…later daze


	11. Back to Training

Disclaimer Time

I, in no way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic.

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now, on to the fic and how to read it.

Generally, everything will be straightforward, but every so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like they do in the show all of the time…also, more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a "…" in between them for sort of a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well, I guess that that's about it for the rules on how to read it. So, on to the FIC!

* * *

_**Back to Training**_

Hinata quickly devoured her food, seeing how manners weren't as important when she was eating alone in her room and she hadn't eaten in a while, and changed to meet Neji out by the pond. By the time she got out there, he was already out on the water practicing his technique.

"That didn't take you very long…I figured you'd actually try to enjoy your food…maybe Naruto has already taught you a few things after all," Neji teased as his equally lavender-eyed and blushing cousin approached him out on the water.

"Stop it, Neji-kun…I was just hungry…that's all," she said in her defense, even though watching Naruto eat was something that just about anyone should take notes on.

"Alright, alright…I'll be good…for now," he smirked. "Well, I'm warmed up, so I'm ready when you are."

"Ok…let me stretch, and I'll be good," she answered.

After completing her stretching exercises, Hinata took her place out on the water next to Neji and they began to spar. They went at each other, back and forth, for nearly three hours until they were both exhausted.

"Well that should about do it, don't you think?" Neji puffed as he began to realize that his cousin had vastly improved her technique and had even added a little of her own flair to it.

"Yeah…I think we can stop here," she puffed back as she also realized how much Neji had improved, with the help of her fathers training he had nearly mastered the Gentle Fist technique.

The both of them, dead tired and dripping with sweat, headed back to their respective rooms for a nice hot shower and a well-earned night of sleep. Little did Hinata know she was probably going to need it, too.

**Beep, beep, bee...**

Hinata didn't let her alarm clock make it far this morning; she was too excited about Kurenai-sensei being back.

Her morning rituals didn't seem to take as long this morning since her usual routine of going to the flower shop was being interrupted. Of course, she knew that's where she'd end up if there was still time left after their meet, assuming that they would have practice as well.

It was 9:45 before Hinata found her way out the front gate, but luckily the training grounds were only a ten-minute walk, so she would be plenty early. It was yet another beautiful day in Konoha.

As Hinata approached her team's usual training field she could see three figures standing on the outskirts next to the woods. She could clearly see Kiba and Shino standing there talking to someone, but the person with whom they were speaking was leaning on the other side of a tree so that it blocked out Hinata's view. All she could really make out was a generic pair of ninja shoes and an elbow sticking out from behind of someone's head. Someone's blonde head…someone's orange elbow…

_Oh, Kami…it can't be…it just can't be Naruto-kun._

"Hinata," Kiba called out as he looked up to see her begin to slow her pace. As he shouted, sure enough, out from behind the tree peered Naruto, who shot her one of those brilliant smiles and began to wave.

Hinata wasn't quite sure whether she should be happy about Naruto being there or terrified. Maybe Neji was right, though--maybe training with Naruto-kun would be a good thing and help her with her persistent problem of fainting in his presence.

"Good morning, everyone," she said sheepishly as she got near.

"Good morning, Hinata…umm…are you feeling better today?" Naruto asked with much concern in his voice.

"I-I'm much better this morning, Naruto-kun," she answered with a blush.

"What happened, Hinata?" Kiba interjected with curiosity.

"Nothing…I just…umm…got a little sick the other day, but I'm fine now," she said with a blush as she looked at Naruto, who was smiling nervously and scratching the back of his head.

"Ok…whatever," Kiba said with a huff when he didn't get the information that he wanted.

"Naruto, you never answered my question from before…why are you even here today?" Shino asked as he stepped into the conversation.

"Honestly, I don't know…all I do know is that I was told to meet with Kakashi-sensei here today, and that's all…if it's not for training, then I don't think that I really care what it's for," answered Naruto, who was still agitated that Ero-Sennin wasn't back yet to help with his training.

"Look, there's someone else coming over the hill," Shino pointed out when he noticed the presence of three other people topping the hill (generally they were the only team out this early in the area). If one thing was for sure, it was that Kurenai-sensei sure loved to get the physical part of the day out of the way early and end with it, too.

"Is that fuzzy-brows?" Naruto asked as he squinted to see who it was that was walking down the hill on their hands. "Yep…fuzzy-brows."

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at Lee's enthusiasm for training; he even did it when he really didn't have to.

"Hey, fuzzy-brows," Naruto shouted, "where are you headed in such a hurry?"

"Right where you are standing," the upside-down Lee shouted back, "for the springtime of youth demands it."

"And Gai-sensei asked us to meet him here this morning," added Tenten who, with Neji, had finally caught up with Lee.

"Yeah…evidently we aren't all that's going to be here, too," Neji included, "because we were walking with Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji but had to hurry to catch up with Lee after he lost an 'I Spy' contest with Shikamaru."

Sure enough, as soon as Neji finished speaking, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji reached the top of the hill as well.

"Yo," came a voice from behind all the Genin.

After their startledness ceased, all of the Genin's jaws nearly dropped to the ground to see the famous copy-ninja standing behind them…two minutes early.

"Kakashi-sensei…you're…you're actually early," stammered Naruto in shock.

"Yeah…I have a meeting," he uttered as he turned another page in his ever present book.

"Well, shouldn't you be getting to it then?" Naruto asked his sensei.

"I'll get there when it starts, ok?" Kakashi muttered as he took a seat on the other side of the tree.

"Kakashi-sensei being troublesome again?" sighed Shikamaru as he, Chouji, and Ino approached the group of genins and the lone jounin.

Naruto began to grumble to himself as Shikamaru was left without an answer. Hinata couldn't help but stand back and watch Naruto sulk and ponder how he could be so cute when he did it and how it could possibly annoy anyone.

"Hey, Shikamaru," Neji said as he stepped forward, "do you have a clue why we're all here?"

"Smells like a mission," interjected Chouji, "you know…kinda like stir-fry."

"I swear, you can make an analogy with food about anything, Chouji…you need to get your head out of the oven," Ino scolded, even though she thought it was kind of cute in a Chouji sort of way.

"I think Chouji's got this one nailed," Shikamaru answered, acknowledging his husky friend's assumption. "It definitely looks like we've got a mission on our hands, and a big one, too, if we're all here. Possibly A-rank."

Gasps and the such came from the group of genin as Shikamaru revealed his theory.

"Well if you're so smart, then what's the mission going to be?" Ino said with a rather annoyed tone to her voice, probably because Shikamaru hadn't said anything about it on their way to the training area in advance.

"Maybe you should ask them," Kakashi answered as he moved himself from his position underneath the tree and pointed up into the tree itself.

"Granny Tsunade and…Gaara's sister…right?" Naruto said as he tried to hide the fact that he hadn't noticed that they were there until Kakashi had pointed them out.

"I have a name, you know, and it's…" the girl responded with a rude tone before she was interrupted. "And it's trouble…long time, no see, Temari…too long, even," smirked Shikamaru at the sight of the sand shinobi that he hadn't seen since his last visit to the hidden sand village.

"It's good to see you, too…Neckymaru," she added with a wink that made Shikamaru turn a shade of red only seen in Gaara's hair.

"Well…hmm…it's nice to see that we're all acquainted here," Tsunade interjected before the objective of the meeting was completely lost on Shikamaru's embarrassment. "But I believe that we should get to the matter at hand."

"Hai," the group acknowledged as they were eager to know the reason for their meeting.

"Okay…well, first off, you are right in your assumption that you are gathered here for a mission, and yes, it is an A-rank mission at that…as you all know, Konoha will be having a ball this year as part of the yearly festival."

"Yeah…so…we already know about that…what's this got to do with a mission?" interrupted Naruto, who swiftly took several whacks to the back of the head for doing so.

"I'm getting to that," Tsunade-sama continued. "Well, as part of this, I am going to take a trip to the Hidden Village of the Sand to extend an invitation to them to join us in the festivities…kind of like a mixer of sorts…and I'll be leaving a week before the festival is to begin, which is also a week before the ball…thanks to Temari here, and the efforts of some Sand spies in the Hidden Rock Village, it has been uncovered that an assassination attempt will be made on me on the way there…evidently they think that we uncovered something on them that they don't want the Sand to know about, and they think that I'm taking that information to them myself…well, considering the village's lack of ninja at the moment, it has been decided that all of you, along with Temari and Kakashi, will assist in trapping these assassins in our own trap."

"Do we already have a plan?" Shikamaru interjected.

"Yes, actually, and that is partly why I called you all together already…until it's time for the mission, you will be divided up into temporary teams, and each team will have a very specific task that they will have to perform if this is going to work…the teams will be as follows: Shikamaru, Naruto, Temari, Hinata and I will be the first team."

"Why do I have to be with that lazy pineapple headAND Gaara's sister…he's not going to be the team leader again, is he?" Naruto complained as Temari shot him a glare that would rival even Sakura for not using her name again. Shikamaru didn't seem to really care as he just ignored the loud-mouthed blonde. Hinata, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier about Naruto's complaint. Not that he was complaining about having to be on a team with Shikamaru and Temari, but the fact that he wasn't complaining about being on a team with her. It was almost as good as him saying that he wanted to be on the team with her, but just not quite as sweet, yet it still made her heart flutter a little.

"Baka…it's quite simple, Naruto…you will be there because of your ability to use Kage Bunshin so well, and if we are ambushed, the shear amount of numbers you can create will be a great help...Shikamaru and his Shadow Imitation will be useful in helping detain anyone that gets close enough in trying to assassinate me, and maybe we'll be able to get more information out of them later...Temari will be acting as both a diplomat of the Sand and added protection, seeing how her fan can deflect kunai and other projectiles as both an attack and defense...lastly, Hinata will be there because of her excellent control of the Byakugan, and she will allow us to detect the enemy before they strike…is that enough, or should I go on with the other teams?"

"It's okay," Naruto said shortly in a huff.

"Alright, then…well, the other two teams will consist of Neji, Ino, Shino, Chouji and Tenten, and the last team will be made up of Kakashi, Lee, Kiba and Akamaru, and Sakura…and yes, I do know that she isn't here, Naruto, but she will be here to train with you tomorrow," scowled Tsunade at Naruto before he had the chance to ask the question she knew was coming. "Are there any 'good' questions?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," began Lee as he broke the silence amongst them. "When will we begin our training?"

"Tomorrow…right now, I'm detained, and Sakura won't be able to join you until tomorrow anyway, so I suggest that you use this time to get to know your teammates better…get to know one another better because you're going to be spending a LOT of quality time together…this will especially help those of you that haven't teamed up before, so I would use the rest of the day for this…we'll meet back here tomorrow at 10…if there aren't any more questions, you're all dismissed." And with that, all of the respective "teams" went on their way to learn of their teammates. Hinata wasn't sure if she was hearing right though. Could Tsunade-sama have just said what she thought she had?

_Did Tsunade-sama just order me to spend more time with…Naruto-kun?…well, Shikamaru and Temari are going to be here, too…maybe it won't be so bad._

While watching her newly-formed teams walk away, Tsunade noticed a familiar presence arrive behind her as she took her seat.

"Tsunade-sama…" said the voice from behind her.

"Yes, Shizune?"

"Why do you have to be so meddlesome, especially in affairs such as this?"

"Well, sometimes they just need a nudge...this couldn't hurt…besides, they're all capable of the mission, and this will be a good evaluation."

"I still think you're trying to play matchmaker."

"Maybe."

* * *

**Rasengan2theface:** Well, that took long enough to write…I swear that sleep does horrible things to my writing abilities…I was on such a roll with this, and then the clock struck two...I had class the next day, and it just got put on hold until now…well, I'll see if I can't be better about getting chapters out sooner because I've finally gotten my schedule worked out to where I have Tuesdays and Thursdays off, and you know what that means…more time for me to write…that's partly why I finally got this one done…well, it's about that magical time of sleepytown, so I'm off…R&R because those reviews in my inbox are what inspire me to write, and the more of them I have, the more inclined I am to put another chapter out…well, I'm out…later daze. 


	12. A Day in the Sun

Disclaimer Time

I, in no way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic.

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t.

Now, on to the fic and how to read it.

Generally, everything will be straightforward, but every so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like they do in the show all of the time…also, more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a "…" in between them for sort of a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well, I guess that that's about it for the rules on how to read it. So, on to the FIC!

* * *

_**A Day in the Sun**_

"Ok…I'm gone."

"Nani," Naruto exclaimed, "where the hell do you think you're going Shikamaru…Granny Tsunade just said that we're supposed to spend the day with our team…you did hear her or are your ears lazy too?"

"Eh…how troublesome…I already know everything I need to Naruto, being a Chunnin I already have access to all the Genin records and have already read them so I'm going home no…OW," he exclaimed as his explanation was cut short by a blow to the back of his head.

"Not so fast Shika…you'll be coming with me," Temari demanded with a smirk and a little mischief in her eye, "we've got some clouds to catch up on."

"Clouds…but I just want…," before he could finish his excuse Temari shot him another one of those glares that could cause the Hokage monuments to want to run away, "oh…right…clouds."

"Oh you act like you don't enjoy it," she scoffed as she laced her arm through his to drag him off to wherever they'd find themselves, "bye you two…we'll see you tomorrow," she added as she looked back with a smile.

Hinata let out a small wave at the two retreating ninja as she realized that she wasn't going to be spending time with her newly formed team. She was going to be spending time with Naruto-kun.

"I don't see how he stands her," Naruto muttered, still in a state of shock over the abrupt occurrence, "she's so bossy all the time and he always gives in…it's like he's sick or something."

"I think it's sweet"

"Nani? How so, Hinata?"

Naruto obviously didn't quite understand how Shikamaru and Temari's relationship worked yet, but Hinata had always noticed. Maybe it just needed a little explaining.

"They just compliment each other so well…umm…Shikamaru-kun is lazy and doesn't like to do things other than lay around and stare at clouds all day, but she challenges him and makes him do what he needs to…I guess it is like a game that's just between them."

"Eh…I still don't quite get it but I guess it kinda makes sense," Naruto responded, still quite confused but not wanting Hinata's explanation to appear to be in vain.

"Naruto-kun…since we," Hinata took a moment to let the idea sink even further in, "since we have to spend today together…umm…what would you like to do?"

It hadn't quite hit Naruto yet that it was going to be just him and Hinata now since Shikamaru and Temari had taken off on their own. He just kind of stood there in a daze at the thought because this was the closest thing to a date he had ever been on before, at least a one on one date.

"Naruto-kun?"

The sound of Hinata's voice tore him from his daze.

"Oh…well I know what I could go for right now…are you hungry?"

"Ramen?" she asked with a bit of a twinkle in her eye that Naruto didn't quite see.

"Yeah…unless you'd rather do something else…"

Hinata had always wanted to just sit with Naruto at Ichiraku and have lunch with him. It was such a simple thing but she didn't really care because just the idea of it brought her so much joy.

"I'd love to."

The smile this brought to Naruto's face was just beaming, ramen and time with Hinata, what could be better?

"Alright, let's go!"

Hinata couldn't help but giggle a little bit at Naruto's exuberance over Ichiraku as he started up the path, even though she wished that it was because of her but just seeing Naruto happy was goodenough.

_An entire day with Naruto-kun and Ichiraku…I wish we could go **there** today…if we could go anywhere I'd want to go **there**_

"Hinata! Are you coming?" Naruto shouted from nearly the top of the hill, thus dragging Hinata back to the real world.

She hurried to catch up as he waited for her at the top of the hill, evidently Ichiraku and his stomach had really motivated him to move more quickly than usual.

Their walk was fairly short but was almost totally encompassed by silence. As much as Hinata really wanted to she couldn't find anything to talk to him about and was hoping that Naruto would start being Naruto and use that loud mouth of his and start the conversation, but Naruto had problems of his own.

Naruto has three fears in his life, his friends learning about the Kyuubi that is sealed inside of him, ghosts because…well ghosts are scary and lastly Hyuuga Hinata. He couldn't explain why this one person could make him feel so warm and comfortable at one moment and then right after he opens his mouth scare him half to death. Kind of like the time he went to the training grounds right before the Chunnin exam finals and Hinata was there alone. After she told him that she believed that he could beat Neji, and with such a strong sense of belief, he was astounded with the feelings that flowed though him. He'd never had anyone believe that much in him before and truly mean it, but as soon as he opened his mouth about how he was really strong his heart sank in fear, in fear of losing her approval. Not even Sakura had ever had this effect on him and he just couldn't understand why he needed her approval more than anyone else.

In his ponderings and memories Naruto had lost all track of the outside world, he was just following his feet and the dark haired girl that he had fallen behind while trying to keep his eyes focused on the road before him instead of where they wanted to drift. Eventually it got to the point where hekept his eyes entertained by the clouds overhead.

Hinata was still struck with uncertainty. Narutohadn'tbeen actinglike himself ever since the night at the restaurant and ever since she woke up and he was in her room. She just wished that she knew what was going on in that blonde boy's brain. As they finally found their way to the top of the hill, with Hinata in front, she could see Ichiraku and turned around to tell Naruto that they were there. As she made the full turn however she felt a familiar body collide with hers and a familiar set of lips make contact with her forehead.

Naruto was in a state of shock. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Hinata turn around and he had run straight into her, again. The next thing he knew they were very close and he was kissing her on the forehead, much like he had done to check her temperature only a night or so ago. In a panic Naruto began to draw back to apologize.

"Hinata! I'm so sorry…I…I didn't mean…Hinata?" the cerulean eyed ninja said in confusionover what his 'victim' was doing.

After a moment of shock Hinata couldn't help but laugh. Not hysterically, more of in amusement than anything else. All of her nerves left with this laughter as the lavender-eyed kunoichi wrapped her arms around the even more surprised Uzumaki Naruto.

"We really need to stop running into each other like this. This could really be hazardous to my health and then you'd never get to see me out of bed if you keep putting me there," she teased him with a slight squeeze.

"Hinata? Are you ok? I didn't hit you on the head too hard?"

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the expression on Naruto's face and the questions he was throwing at her. She wasn't quite sure herself at what had come over her. She just knew that she wasn't uneasy about being around him anymore. Maybe she had lost her mind but if this was the result of losing her mind around Naruto then she wasn't sure that she wanted it back. Yet as different as she felt at that moment she couldn't help but blush as well as she drew herself from his body.

"I'm just fine Naruto-kun…perfectly fine. You on the other hand sound like you could use something to eat. Besides, we're already here"

Naruto's stomach growled a rather angry growl at the thought of the meal he hadn't eaten yet.

"Yeah…we are…well how about we eat then…my treat!"

"Ok…but only if I get to pick where we go next and you can even choose the last place we go today."

Naruto wasn't used to Hinata making any kind of demand but he was sure that she would choose someplace great so he wasn't going to complain.

The ramen seemed to taste better to Naruto today. It might have been the new recipe that the owner had made but Naruto wasn't quite sure that was it. He was already through with his third bowl when Hinata had finished her first.

"Wow…that was really good," Hinata pronounced with a smile on her face.

All that came out of Naruto's mouth was a garbled "yeah" before he found the end of that bite of noodles. "Do you want some more? It's my treat after all."

"I couldn't possibly eat another bite, but thank you…Naruto-kun."

"Well I guess that'll make this my last bowl then…so what…what's up next?" he asked a tad nervously.

Hinata had almost forgotten that she had the task of choosing where they would go next. All she really knew was that she actually wanted to talk with Naruto since all he did was stuff his face at the ramen shop.

_Where can we go…we can't go anywhere to eat even though Naruto-kun could probably still find a way to make room for even more food…I can't take him **there** as much as I really want to…_

…and then it hit her…

…_flowers!_

"I know just the place Naruto-kun," she said with a bit of glee as she headed in the direction of the Hyuuga mansion.

As much as Naruto hated to admit it, he has one other fear that dwelled in the back of his mind because it came right along with Hinata. Hyuuga Hiashi. The one thing that Naruto didn't want to face right now was Hinata's father. He was lucky that Hiashi didn't know about how late or how often Naruto was in Hinata's room and the fact that he was in there alone with her. He also felt that Hiashi wouldn't approve of him because he, like most of those that fought with the Kyuubi, probably hated him. Naruto couldn't stand the thought of going to Hinata's mansion and it being just him and Hinata and not the large group that was there before.

"Umm…Hinata," he began after he paid their bill and caught up to the ebony-haired kunoichi, "where exactly are we going? We aren't going back to your mansion are we?"

"Kind of…I'm not going to tell you exactly. Let's just say that it's a surprise…ok?"

Naruto let out a heavy sigh at this. He really didn't want to run into Hiashi, even though he could use the excuse of Granny Tsunade's orders, but he couldn't take back his words about Hinata getting to choose where they went next. He'd just have to trust his luck on this one.

Hinata let out a little giggle at the defeated Naruto as he huffed and mumbled to himself, it was one of the traits that she admired most about him, he really didn't like to lose and yet she had disarmed him so easily and she couldn't help but wonder why. Did Naruto really want to not displease her that badly?

They chatted a little on the way there. Mostly small stuff and the occasional intrusion of Naruto trying to pry out the name of the location of their destination, it didn't get him very far until his worse fear appeared in front of him, the Hyuuga Mansion.

"Hinata, please tell me we aren't just going to your home," he begged as he visualized one of the many ways Hiashi could probably kill him.

"Why? Do you not want to go back to my room with me Naruto-kun, alone?" she asked with a teasing smirk.

"That's a loaded question if I ever he…"

"I'm just kidding Naruto-kun, but from here I'm afraid that I'm going to need you to take off your forehead protector and give it to me," she interrupted with a bit of guilt in her voice for even teasing him about it. She wasn't quite sure where it had come from. It just kind of came out.

"Why do you need my forehead protector? You didn't need it last time I was here…granted you weren't conscious then."

"I need it because I can't have you peaking…I said this was a surprise now didn't I?"

"I guess so," was all he could find to say as he removed his most prized possession and handed it to Hinata. Hinata, in turn, took the newly appointed blindfold and stepped behind Naruto and secured in place over his eyes.

Hinata began waving a hand in front of Naruto's face. "Can you see anything, Naruto-kun?"

"Nope…not a thing. It's as dark as pitch."

"Good…now follow me," she ordered as she started to walk away before realizing that Naruto wasn't following in suit.

"Umm…Hinata," he shouted, not realizing how close she was at the moment, "if I can't see you how am I supposed to follow you?"

"Oh…umm…well I guess that you'll have to…give me your hand."

Hinata didn't understand why these words were so hard to get out. She knew that she felt much more comfortable around Naruto than ever beforeand had even hugged him before going to the ramen shop but this was different somehow.

"Oh…yeah…that's probably the best way to do it," he said as he began to feel around for her presence.

Hinata slowly reached out and cupped his left hand with her right.

Naruto was amazed at how soft her hand was compared to his. It reminded him of fine silk, kind of like his favorite shirt he wore when he was really little and how soft and silky it felt.

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. As their hands met she was reminded of the time in the hospital after Naruto's fight with Sasuke. This time however it was intentional.

"Alright Hinata…lead the way."

"Hai," she exclaimed as she began to drag Naruto away from the Hyuuga mansion's front gate.

Naruto was now more confused than ever now that he hadn't heard the clang of the front gate. He was relieved that he wouldn't be facing Hiashi though.

Several minutes passed as they continued to follow the path that lead to Hinata's "secret location" and much of it remained in silence, except for the random "Kuso" as Naruto attempted to keep from tripping over rocks and dips in the road, until Naruto broke the silence with a question that he had been dwelling on.

"Hinata…I have a question," he asked with a little reluctance.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" she replied, hoping that he wasn't going to ask 'are we there yet?'

"Do you mind if we…umm…switch hands? I'd feel better and probably not step in so many holes or trip so much…if you don't mind that is." Naruto blushed a little bit at admitting his clumsiness and not revealing his real reason for wanting the switch.

"Sure Naruto-kun…if it really helps I don't mind." Hinata was reluctant to let go because she was enjoying the moment so much but relinquished his hand anyway after they stopped moving. Naruto began to feel around as Hinata moved around behind him. Eventually Naruto found the inside of her arm with the back of his hand and began to slide it down to take her hand once again. Hinata opened up her hand to cup his once again as the feeling of his traveling down her arm sent chills all over her body. As his hand reached her palm he began to search it with his fingertips until he found what he was looking for. Hinata was startled with this at first because she was expecting him to simply cup his with hers again but that wasn't the case. Hinata slowly parted her fingers and allowed Naruto to slide his in between hers. They fit so smoothly it was almost like putting on a glove. Naruto, still blindfolded, looked over at the slightly startled kunoichi and shot her a smile through his blushing while Hinata's face found a shade of crimson that it enjoyed that Naruto knew was there.

"That's much better," he said with a bit of relief, "now maybe I won't trip all over myself."

Hinata's blush was broken with a giggle. "Yeah…it is…now we should get going again. We don't have too much farther to go," she said with a small squeeze of the hand that was now interlocked with hers, a squeeze that was gratefully returned.

They continued on for another minute or two before Hinata came to a stop and regrettably released her hand from Naruto's.

"Are we there?" Naruto asked with a slight tone of disappointment from their disentanglement.

"Yes…yes we are," she sighed as she worked her way around Naruto to release his blindfold and allow it to return to its original resting place.

As Naruto's eyes adjusted to the change in lighting conditions he found before him a meadow filled with some of the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. He couldn't help but just stare at it in awe.

"It's gorgeous Hinata-chan. I…I never knew that there was a place like this in Konoha," he uttered as he tried to take in all of his surroundings. The entire meadow was almost entirely covered with flowers of every shape and color he had ever seen. It was almost as if the flowers were glowing.

"Yeah, this is where I come when I want to be alone or pick some flowers to press…I like it here…it's so peaceful and secluded," she said as she stepped up next to Naruto.

"I can think of one thing that would make it perfect though," he said as moved behind Hinata. He then placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around slowly and took a few steps backward. "There…perfect."

Hinata blushed a profound shade of vermilion and turned away at Naruto's insinuation.

_Is this a dream…am I actually here with Naruto-kun and did he actually say that…I must be dreaming_

"Hinata-chan…are you ok? I didn't upset you did I?" Naruto asked with concern as he approached the flushed kunoichi.

"No…you didn't Naruto-kun. I'm just a little embarrassed, that's all. No one has ever said anything like that to me before." And she was being truthful. Nobody had ever said anything quite like that about her before. That and the genuine sound of concern in Naruto's voice only made her blush even more. That was truly one of the things that she liked best about him because he rarely put himself before anyone else.

"Come on Naruto-kun. I want to take you to my favorite spot," she suggested as she boldly held out her hand for him to once again take. He showed no hesitation in grasping it this time, quickly lacing his fingers with hers. As soon as they were entangled once again she led him down a foot path to a small hill that was relatively empty of flowers but defiantly the highest point in the meadow which allowed anyone on top of it to view all that was there. Upon reaching their final destination Hinata found her usual spot that she enjoyed and sat down and Naruto followed in kind.

"Other than it being so beautiful why do you come out here Hinata?" Naruto asked as he finally made himself comfortable, "please don't tell me that you just come out here to stare at the clouds like Shikamaru."

"Sometimes," she replied, "I'll come here to pick flowers too but mostly this is my hideaway. I'll come here when I don't want to be in the house or just don't want to be around people," she continued, "and now that I think about it I don't think I've ever been here with someone else before," she said with a glowing smile and a nestling of Naruto's hand with hers.

They remained there that way for quite some time. Just talking and telling each other stories about their past, although not all of Naruto's because he wasn't quite ready to share that part with anyone just yet, and reminiscing about some of the things that they both remembered.

"Wow…we've been here for forever. The sun's going to be setting soon." Naruto announced as he realized that the sun was headed for the horizon.

"Yeah, we should probably head back before it sets. Father would be mad if I missed dinner," she said as she found her feet. Hinata, as much as she didn't want the day to end, had to agree with the blonde boy that her hand was still attached to.

"Well do you think we'd have time for one more place? It's not too far from your house so you probably wouldn't be late for dinner if we hurried and I promise that it'll be worth it," he begged, using his best puppy dog eyes.

"Ok…as long as we hurry."

And with that Naruto nearly pulled her off of her feet as he began to almost drag her behind him.

"Yeah, we'd better because we don't have much time left."

The two of them, hand in hand, raced down the path that had led them to the meadow and soon, as stealthily as possible, past the Hyuuga mansion.

"Naruto, where are we going?" puffed Hinata who was getting tired of running.

"It's a secret," he replied, "do me a favor though. Put your forehead protector on like a blindfold, like I did, and then I'll carry you there so we'll make it on time.

Hinata did as he asked and quickly found herself riding on Naruto's back. Soon she noticed that they began moving up a hill, a very steep one at that. After about a minute of jostling around on Naruto's back he stopped.

"We're here," he huffed as he allowed her feet to find the ground once again and turned her in the direction that suited him, "now you can put your forehead protector back."

Hinata removed her blindfold and it revealed to her one of the most beautiful sites she had ever seen and one of the things that she had always dreamed of doing.

"N-Naruto-kun…are we where I think we are?" she stuttered as she realized that they were **_there_**.

"Yep," he grinned, "I figured that it'd be the perfect way to end the day since you showed me your meadow I figured I'd show you my sunset and there's no better place to see it than from on top of the Hokage monument. Come on over here. It's really best if you sit and soak it in."

Naruto had already found a seat on the top of one of the Hokage's foreheads and motioned for Hinata to join him. She found her seat next to him. As soon as she found her seat he managed to slide his arm around behind her and pulled her closer to him as she used the opportunity to find a place for her head to rest on his shoulder. They sat there in silence, enjoying one another's company. Hinata, still absorbing the events of the day, couldn't help but think to herself…

_How perfect of a way is this to end a day in the sun…

* * *

_

**Rasengan2theface:** Well…there it is…you'll either love it or hate it…frankly I loved it because I really think that's what might happen…one day she's going to be like…wow…I've been really stupid for acting like this all the time…or something to that extent…NEwayz…I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out…I've been writing and rewriting it over and over and changing stuff and then changing it back and then the other night I realized I was at a writing block because I couldn't think of where to go with it and then one of my wonderful friends suggested something and it made me think of something else that was so perfect I about cried…but basically she turned this chapter from 1,500 words to well over 4,000…granted it cost me a day of classes but I really think it was worth it and it also means that I can move on to training day/s and then the mission…well I off people so send me lots of reviews telling what you thought about this chapter and please oh please make it something I can respond to cause that's my favorite part…ok…now I'm off…WHOOSH to review land…later daze


	13. Not Like Yesterday

Disclaimer Time

I, in no way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic.

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t.

Now, on to the fic and how to read it.

Generally, everything will be straightforward, but every so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like they do in the show all of the time…also, more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a "…" in between them for sort of a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well, I guess that that's about it for the rules on how to read it. So, on to the FIC!

_**Not Like Yesterday**_

"...and then we watched the sunset from the Hokage monument and he walked me home."

"And Shikamaru and Temari just up and left you two?" Neji asked again as he was trying to make his cousin's story clearer due to the speed she had told it to him.

"Yes," she replied.

"And we are talking about the same loud mouthed Uzumaki Naruto now aren't we?" he said in a bit of a sarcastic manner.

"Yes," she said though a giggle and throwing a pillow at her unsuspecting cousin who caught the projectile right in the face.

"Maybe he isn't as dumb as we all thought…I wish I had thought of that with Tenten today but I didn't have as lazy or whipped of a teammate as Shikamaru to give me the chance," Neji sighed, wishing that he could have had such a chance to be alone with Tenten like that.

"Oh yeah, how did your day with your team go, Neji-kun?" Hinata asked as she realized that Neji had had to spend the day with his team as well and she had actually been doing most of the talking up until now.

"Oh…yeah…well I'll just say that it was interesting, to say the least. All we did was go to the barbeque restaurant and watch Chouji eat, listen to Ino complain about Chouji eating and Shino's brooding because his team was the only one that was completely broken up. It was just a complete waste, I didn't get nearly what you did today," he sighed. "I never would have thought that Naruto would have been so…so…I don't even know what to call it."

"Charming and sweet." Hinata answered rather quickly and slightly offended because she always knew that Naruto always had the potential to be both.

"Oh yeah, that's it right there," he retorted with a bit of sarcasm still lingering in his voice before he threw the pillow back at his cousin who was a little more prepared than he was when he received it.

"But don't worry Neji-kun, I'm sure you can be just as charming with Tenten as Naruto is," she teased him because she knew that Naruto being better than him at something would completely drive him crazy, "as a matter of fact just the other day Tenten was saying that she wished you could be as charming as Naruto."

This of course invoked the response of yet another flying pillow and a "Liar" that shortly followed.

"Wow, it's getting pretty late," Neji pronounced as he looked over at the clock on the wall to see that the two of them had been talking since well past dinner.

"Yeah it is. I guess we should really get to bed then since we have a really big day tomorrow." Hinata knew that it was probably true but nothing could compare to what she had been though today.

"I know. I just can't help but wonder what kind of training the Hokage will put us though. It'll be interesting to say the least," he ended as he turned for the door and turned the handle, "I'll see you in the morning then, night."

"Good night Neji-kun," she replied as she got up to cross the room to her bookshelf.

Although Hinata and Neji had gotten much closer lately she felt that she didn't have to divulge every detail to him and that it was her right to keep some things to herself. That's why she hid it in her books and made sure it was in one of the most girly ones that she had, _How to Tell Him, "Hi, I exist" and Not Faint Constantly by Matsudai Shingi_. The one detail that she had failed to mention to her cousin was the fact that Naruto had made one last "suggestion" before they had returned home. The photo booth. As much as she tried to refuse it and say that she was already later than she needed to be he did nothing but insist upon it and eventually, she broke. But now she was glad about it because she didn't really have any pictures of Naruto, more or less her and Naruto together. As hard as she tried throughout all of the pictures she couldn't fight off the blush that covered her face. In every last frame there was a splash of crimson on her cheeks. Now was no different as she stared at each individual pane and silently said good night to Naruto, whom she hoped was doing the same with his copy of the pictures as well. Today would be a day to be remembered, a day she would never forget, but what would tomorrow show. She could only wonder as she said one last goodnight and slid the photos back into their hiding spot, slid her clothes off and finally slidinto bed to hopefully dream so she could be sure that today had not been one.

**Beep beep beep**

Ah yes, her usual morning routine, but there seemed to be more of a kick in Hinata's step as she prepared breakfast and did her morning chores. Hiashi knew that she had training to do with the Hokage for the mission she and Neji, along with the others, had been assigned. He just shrugged it off and went back to his morning tea and newspaper.

Hinata and Neji were out the door before he knew it, Neji had been a little reluctant to leave so early since he liked to take his time in the mornings, but being lazier than Shikamaru right after he wakes up in the morning assured that he wouldn't put up much of a fight, that and Hinata coaxing him with the detail that Tenten would probably be there early too.

It wasn't too long before they had reached the top of the hill that overlooked the training area and to no avail neither of their desired targets were there. The only people they could see were Lee and, oddly enough, Shikamaru and Temari.

"Hey Lee," Neji shouted as he greeted his temporary ex-teammate, "I'm not surprised that you're here but Shikamaru, how?"

"How?...How?...I'll tell you how. That right there is how," he scowled as he pointed lacklusterly at the sand kunoichi standing next to him.

"You just needed some motivation this morning, that's all. That's what you get for being up so late last night," she said in her defense.

"I wouldn't have been up all night if you hadn…" was as far as Shikamaru could make it in his defense before someone's rather large fan haphazardly fell on his foot, accidentally of course.

"So…we're all on a team from here out now aren't we?" Temari interrupted as Shikamaru removed his barking foot from underneath her fan.

"Well, we are," Hinata answered softly, "Neji and Lee are on other teams. It will be the three of us and Naruto-kun on a team with Tsunade-sama."

"Oh…good," she smiled evilly, "I'll be able to keep him in line then."

Hinata giggled at this as Temari noticed that Shikamaru had found a way to remove his foot from underneath her fan and slink off to talk with Neji and Lee.

The two girls talked while they waited on others to join them, well Temari did most of the talking but Hinata still asked questions, some of which she received more information than she would have liked to have known, information that she evidently needed to know. It wasn't long before the members of the other teams started to show up, one by one or by the couple, but even after Tsunade showed up the final member of their group had yet to make an appearance.

Hinata was starting to worry a little bit as time was pushing dangerously close to the official time they were supposed to meet. Even Kakashi was there already and it was five minutes till ten.

"Alright," Tsunade shouted,to get everyone's attention, "I suppose that we should begin."

_Where are you Naruto-kun?_

All of a sudden Hinata could hear something off in the distance, kind of like someone yelling. Then, as it was getting louder, she could see that what was making all the commotion was coming over the hill, and fast.

"Granny Tsunade! Don't start without me!" yelled the sapphire eyed shinobi that had just peaked the hill top at full speed.

"Kakashi, this is obviously your fault," Tsunade said as she cast an ominous glare at the languid eyed Jounin.

Kakashi didn't seem offended, more frightened by the anger in Tsunade's voice than anything else. He had figured that he'd rubbed off on his students a bit but he was surprised that he would have rubbed off on Naruto this much, evenat all.

Naruto had finally reached the bottom of the hill and was headed towards the large group that gathered, but he wasn't slowing down.

As hard as he tried and no matter how much chakra he pushed into his feet he couldn't slow down, and he was headed right for Hinata.

Hinata hadn't noticed that Naruto wasn't slowing down at any rate until it was too late. The collision that ensued was similar to that of a bowling ball picking up a spare pin, that is if the bowling ballheld on for all it was worth as they collided, then they tumbled over one another several times and then have the bowling ball finally land on top of the pin. They laid like that for a moment, mostly so Naruto could catch his breath from allowing gravity to take advantage of him. All the while Hinata just laid there with her eyes wide shut.

"H-Hinata, are you ok?" Naruto asked as he jumped up off of her as he realized how close they really were. "Hinata?" he asked again, she still didn't answer. As if on instinct Naruto got back down next to her, looking for signs of injury, he could find none. He slid his hand behind her head to see if she had hit it on a rock as they tumbled, as his hand lifted her head off the hard ground her eyes opened.

"Hinata-chan, are you ok?" he asked again, concern filling his voice.

She blushed, "I'm fine Naruto-kun, I-I'm glad to see you're here," she answered as Naruto helped her up to her feet.

"Hey, where'd everybody go?" Naruto inquired as he looked up and didn't see anyone but Temari standing there with a surprised look on her face. All she could find the power to do was point at the ground in front of her. Before them were Neji, Lee, Tenten, Chouji, Shikamaru, Ino, Shino, Kiba, Sakura, Kakashi and even Tsunade, every last one of them planted face first in the ground, overcome with shock.

"You'd think none of them had ever seen somebody run into someone else before, geez." Naruto scoffed as he looked over to Hinata with a smile. Hinata was still blushing furiously because she had realized why everyone was in the state they were. Shock undoubtedly ensued when Hinata failed to faint as everyone had surely expected, such a feat had never been witnessed before by anyone else who had seen Naruto make contact with Hinata.

_It looks like I'm not the only one that has to get used to this_

"Perhaps…we could begin now," Tsunade gasped as she found her feet once again, "if that's ok with you two that is?"

"S-Sorry Tsunade-sama, continue please," Hinata apologized.

"Alright then, each of you has a scroll here with your name on them and the details of your training and your role in the mission, before you begin training I suggest that you look over them," she said with a particular emphasis directed at Naruto, "and study them at the end of each day. This needs to go without a hitch and each of you need to know your parts down to the smallest detail. Is that understood?...Good, now off to your designated areas. We've got a lot of work ahead of us and not much time to do it in." Tsunade ended and just as soon as she did everyone was gone, everyonebut Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Temari and herself.

"Do you any of you have any questions about the roles you are playing?"

"I have one," Shikamaru said as he stepped forward. "What are our covers for this, if the enemy becomes suspicious of why there are more than just the Hokage, a representative of the Sand and her escort that would help establish inter-village relations_and_ promote the festival, it could be troublesome. I guess what I'm asking is why are Naruto and Hinata here, other than the obvious positions they will fill as resources?"

"A good question Shikamaru and a rather simple one to answer, information was fed to theStone that a pair of rookie Genin that will be attending the festival's opening ball together would be accompanying me as well as representatives of the rookie class. They will be serving a similar task as you and Temari are. If my information serves me well you two _are_ planning on attending together aren't you?"

Naruto couldn't help but be a little embarrassed and slightly agitated at Tsunade's inquisition and the fact that someone had told her about it without him knowing. Hinata on the other hand couldn't help but blush at the question as images from her dreams of her and Naruto at the ball flashed though her head, dreams that she could only hope for, because she was far to shy to push herself that far, but none the less were there.

"We…uh…yeah, we are," Naruto stammered, still embarrassed and still a little shocked of the abruptness of the question, as he turned a little to look at Hinata in the corner of his eye, not enough to look at her completely, but enough to know that she was looking back at him with crimson covering her cheeks.

"Good, then there shouldn't be any problems then. Now for our guest, I've requested that one of our ANBU captains aid us in training for this mission since we will be on the receiving end of an ambush. I give you Matsudai Shingi, leader of one of our ambush teams.

Standing before them, with his back to the tree that everyone had been gathering around before, was a man, about 5'10", with blazing orange hair that allowed a single strand to fall in front of his face, over his forehead protector.He worehis forehead protector slightly off to the right so as the Konoha symbol paralleled with one of his dark brown eyes, probably just one of those things he picked up and no one ever challenged him about it. Even though the weather was rather warm he still wore long black sleeves that were wider at the ends, much like a kimono's arms would appear. He also wore long black shorts that cut off about mid shin where tape took over the rest of his right leg and foot. As he turned and started walking towards them Naruto noticed a glint of metal that shown in the light, a pair of sai.

"Yo," he began, "I'm your worst nightmare…umm…I mean I'm Matsudai Shingi, but you can call me master, and by Tsunade-sama's request I'll be helping with your training."

_Matsudai Shingi? It can't be, can it?_

"Granny Tsunade, are you sure it's safe to train with him? He seems detached." Naruto questioned as he continued to not take an eye off of the strangely enthusiastic Jounin standing before him.

"I assure you all that he is one of the best we have when it comes to attacking the enemy and that makes him perfect for your training. He may seem a bit eccentric at times but he's loyal and I trust him completely with your well beings." Tsunade finished with a tone of complete confidence.

"Hey, what do you mean by "your well beings"? Aren't you going to be training with us?" Shikamaru interjected as he realized that she was going to leave them alone with this psychopath.

"No I will not. I have…other things that I must attend to. I will be joining you after you have gone though the basics of detecting and receiving an ambush. I have to go see to the other groups before I get back to my other business. I will see you all sometime soon," and with that Tsunade was gone and had left them with Shingi.

"Lovely," Shikamaru retorted to the empty air that once held the presence of the Hokage.

"Well well well, where shall we begin then? Perhaps we should assess your current knowledge. Yeah, I think I like that a lot." Maniacal laughter shortly followed the ramblings of their current sensei.

"This guy's going to be troublesome," Temari grumbled to herself, Shikamaru had rubbed off on her more than she'd like to admit but it was kind of hard not to steal his trademark phrase once and a while.

"Ok, I've got it. You see that path in the woods over there, that is going to be the path to the Hidden Village of the Sand. Your goal is to make it to the dried up creek bed that is about two miles off from here. Got that?"

"You made that up off the top of your head, didn't you?" Naruto scowled, wishing that Ero-Sennin were here insead of this ill prepared instructor.

"Maybe. Now I will give you ten minutes to discuss your strategy before you enter, this will also give me time to find an appropriate ambush location. Remember that you must move as though you are protecting someone and you must move on foot because you won't be able to move though the trees on the way to the Sand Village. Those are your only restrictions. Good luck."

The four of them soon learned to have a love hate relationship with Shingi-sensei, especially Naruto who loved that he treated them to ramen everyday for lunch but hated that he was almost always his first attack target of every ambush and with every chance he got he loved to tie him and Hinata upside down in a tree together. Hinata soon learned that Shingi-sensei enjoyed playing cat and mouse with her because of her bloodline limit but she couldn't help but notice that he really wasn't that bad of a guy at the end of the day. He was only hard on them because he needed to be, not that he wanted to be.

This routine of training continued day in and day out while what remained of the shinobi's free time was being used to get ready for the festival and the ball. With every break that they got the girls would all meet, even Temari who would enlighten them on some of her "secrets", and go looking for the perfect dress for the ball while the guys, while the girls were distracted, would go to the flower shop to see if the girls had decided on dress colors so they could order a corsage to match. It wasn't until two days before the mission that the girls decided on dresses, thankfully they were in colors that the boys would also be able to match their tuxes with without looking like total fools. They figured it would be a nice surprise for the girls if they matched.

"Well I guess you are as prepared as I can get you. You guys have learned a lot in the short time we've trained together. I'm truly proud of you," Shingi ended after their final day of training had ended.

"Tomorrow we head to the Sand and we'll see if all of your training has paid off or not," Tsunade added. "Well you all should go and enjoy yourselves tonight and get some rest, we leave at ten in the morning."

With that Tsunade began to saunter off towards the hot springs, seeing how they seemed to be calling her name at the moment.

"How about some ramen guys? Hey, where'd Shikamaru and Gaara's sister go?" Naruto asked, looking at Hinata with questioning, azure eyes.

"I believe Temari-chan said something about submarine races before they left, what ever that means." Hinata knew exactly what Temari meant by that because she had been enlightened about them while she and all the other girls had been shopping for dresses, but she wasn't about to tell Naruto about what she was talking about.

"Well how about you Hinata-chan, would you like to get some ramen with me?" he asked, unsure if she'd rather just go home and rest or not.

"I-I'd love to Naruto-kun," she replied, slipping momentarily back to the day before their training began and then to the ball and the dress she had found that she was now sure was perfect, at first she was skeptical of it because it just didn't seem like her but with a little coaxing from the others she finally decided on it since she was the last one to pick a dress.

And with that they headed towards Ichiraku for the late night special that Naruto had become accustomed to.

"So what do you think about Shingi-sensei, Naruto-kun?" she asked, trying to not sound nervous as she usually was around Naruto, even more so since that one night.

"He's kinda cool, as much as I hate to admit it, I wish he'd teach me how to use those sai of his…I don't think I've ever been pinned up to a tree like that sofast before."

They both shared a laugh and several others before they reached Ichiraku only to find that it was closed early for the night.

"Kuso, he must have been having a slow night without me around, huh?" Naruto joked, nudging Hinata with his elbow to add a little emphasis and decrease the distance between them.

"Well I guess you should be getting back anyway, because of your dad and all…unless you'd like to come back to my place and let me fix you some ramen, we could go up on my roof and look at the stars even, if you want that is but if you'd rather go back home and rest for tomorrow I understand that too," Naruto pleaded, not intentionally but he was kind of embarrassed about his place but was also really looking forward to spending some more time with Hinata before the mission tomorrow where he probablywouldn't be allowed such luxuries as talking with her all day long.

Hinata had often dreamed of going to Naruto's place, even if it was just to see where he lived and not for any other reason. But now he was the one asking her to come to his place to eat and just spend time with him. Her head and her heart were at war now, she knew her father would be furious with her if she were to come in after her curfew but how could she pass up an opportunity like this.

"Ok, but only if I'm home by 10:30, father will be furious if I'm not," she conceded, the thought of going to Naruto's was something she couldn't pass up.

"Alright! We've got about two hours then and my place is about a ten minute walk, if we run we'll have more time to eat and look at the stars and…" after that Hinata couldn't hear anymore as Naruto began tearing away towards his home and she soon began to follow.

They took half the time to get there at the pace Naruto set and were there before they knew it.

"Tada, I presentOtaku Naruto," he announced as Hinata caught up to him at the foot of his stairs, "it's not much but it's home I guess, oh and don't mind the mess, we won't be inside long and I haven't cleaned in a while."

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Naruto-kun," she replied as they headed up the staircase that led to his front door.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he added as the turned his key in the lock to open the door. Behind that door was nothing short of a disaster area. Ramen cups and wrappers were strewn everywhere the eye could see. It was as if there were a ramen army preparing to invade Konoha and Naruto's little apartment was their rallying point before they attacked.

"So, have a seat and I'll have us some ramen before you know it, if you can find one that is," Naruto joked at his expense, he knew he should have cleaned up sometime this week for some reason but he never knew why that feeling kept following him, he did now, "Umm…what kind would you like?"

"I'll have whatever you're having Naruto-kun." Hinata had finally found a place that wasn't occupied by any ramen cups or wrappers, on the couch where she cleared off some that were already residing there. From the looks of it it seemed to fold out into a bed as well, maybe Naruto used it as a bed from time to time.

"Miso ramen coming up then," came a shout from out of the kitchen.

It was only about five minutes before Naruto came out of the kitchen carrying two cups of ramen and two pairs of chop sticks.

"Can you open that window in the corner over there? We'll go up to the roof through there." Naruto didn't do this very often, as of late, but when he first got his apartment it was his favorite place to go.

Hinata did as she was asked and held the window open for Naruto to climb out onto the fire escape that led to the roof.

Naruto was surprisingly able to climb the ladder without putting down either cup of ramen or pair of chop sticks, it was truly an impressive sight to witness.

Upon reaching the roof Naruto found his usual crook that had a wonderful view of the Hokage monument and the moon overhead, this particular crook had just enough room for two shinobi to sit, just enough.

Naruto and Hinata sat there and talked until Hinata noticed that Naruto had become very quiet and laid his head on her shoulder. Evidently Naruto's day had been longer than expected and he had passed out on the ebony haired kunoichi's shoulder.

"Naruto-kun," she shook him but he didn't budge. "Naruto-kun, wake up, it's time for me to go, Naruto-kun."

Naruto finally began to stir back to the world of the conscious.

"Ok," he managed to force though a yawn as he began to stretch.

He was still fighting sleep as they headed back though the window, "I'll walk you home then…and then see you tomorrow morning."

"That's ok Naruto-kun. I'll be fine." By the time she had found her way though the window and looked up Naruto was already fast asleep on the couch that she had cleared off. Hinata couldn't help but gaze at him in awe as he slept, remembering the first night of the Bikouchuu mission and how he looked then. Hinata went and found something to cover him up with and a pillow to place under his head. Before she left she also found his alarm clock and set it for him so he would be sure to get up in the morning. As she opened the door she decided that she was going to do one thing she had always dreamed of doing before but never had the chance or the courage to do. She walked back over to Naruto's makeshift bed and slid off his forehead protector. She then leaned in and pressed her lips to his forehead and whispered, "Goodnight and sweet dreams Naruto-kun," and then she returned to the place she had occupied at the door. Slowly she snuck back out the door so as to not wake him and just before the door was fully closed she could have swore that she heard him say something in his sleep, she took a moment to let it sink in and then finished closing the door and headed for home. It was simple but it meant so much to hear, "Goodnight Hinata-chan."

**Rasengan2theface:** I know I know, it's been a while since I last updated, Gomen Gomen. I never intended on it taking this long but I just got so caught up in writing papers for school and going to card tourneys over the weekends that a lot of my free time was spent, not to mention my beta didn't beta so I betaed this one as best I could. Thank Kami for spring break or I may have never gotten a chance to get any real writing done. Well the chapter many of you have been waiting for is coming up next and the chapter that puts my talents to the test because I've never done a fight scene before, maybe I'll need a stunt writer for this one or I could just go Jackie Chan on this one and do it all myself, if Jackie Chan can do it why can't I? Well I hope you liked my OC, I know he wasn't in there very long and it didn't add up to a lot of development for him but he might make some more appearances later on, I just love the name and I swear if I ever move to Japan that's what I'm going to change my name to, Matsudai Shingi. Bonus points and maybe a little creative control to the first person who can tell me what his name means. Shingi should be pretty easy if you've ever watched Neon Genesis Evangalon since that's the main character's name too, although I fell in love with the name before I ever watched the show so don't go saying that I stole it from that. Well my insomnia calls for me to start another chapter, I swear you'll have these coming a little faster soon, maybe even have several back to back, three of them if I can pull it off, it is only Wednesday right now. And I'm off…WHOOSH!


	14. The Moment of True Realization

Disclaimer Time

I, in no way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic.

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t.

Now, on to the fic and how to read it.

Generally, everything will be straightforward, but every so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like they do in the show all of the time…also, more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a "…" in between them for sort of a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well, I guess that that's about it for the rules on how to read it. So, on to the FIC!

**_The Moment of True Realization_**

**Beep beep SMACK**

Hinata wasn't about to waste any time this morning with her usual routine. Today was the day of possibly the most dangerous and important mission she has ever been on, yet she can't find it in herself to dread it. Not when she knows that Naruto will be there, and everything seems to always go just fine when they're together, unless she faints, of course. But that had even proven to be less and less likely of an occurrence as of late. Hinata didn't understand it, but today also just felt different, a lot like the day of the Chunnin exams, in fact. She knew it was a big day just like that day, but something still felt different, something was off in some way. Maybe it was just pre-mission jitters, or maybe it was the night before. That had to be it; nothing else made any real sense.

Neji was already up when Hinata made it to the kitchen; he had even already made some breakfast for the two of them.

"You ready for today?" Neji forced though a mouthful of eggs.

"Hai," she replied, bewildered at the fact that she wouldn't have to fix breakfast this morning, making the day seem even stranger than before. "And arigato, Neji-kun. You didn't have to fix anything for me as well."

"Don't worry about it. I figured that you make breakfast for us just about every day and that for once you shouldn't have to worry about, especially today," Neji seemed to drag out the last words that exited his mouth, like there was something on his mind. "I just hope that it's not so bad that it kills you. I'm afraid I'm not the greatest cook in the world. I think I about burned the water I was boiling for the oatmeal this morning."

Although he didn't show it often, Neji always knew how to lighten the mood, whether it was on purpose or not, his serous demeanor couldn't hold out forever, and it was moments like this that Hinata really saw Neji as more of a brother than a cousin.

"I'm sure it'll be just fine, Neji-kun." As a matter of fact, Hinata couldn't have been more right. If there ever was a thing that Neji was going to be modest about it was his cooking; it didn't hurt that he knew most of Hinata's favorite breakfast dishes, but they seemed especially good when Neji fixed them: egg, ham, cheese and onion omelet; peach and banana oatmeal; hash browns with ketchup that made a smiley face that slightly resembled a certain blonde-haired boy; and a glass of strawberry milk. Hinata made short work of her breakfast, except for the hash browns that she found a little hard to eat, but they soon met their demise as well.

"That was excellent, Neji-kun. Arigato."

"It was just breakfast--don't worry about it. Oh yeah, do you have everything ready for today?"

Hinata answered him with a nod as she headed back in the direction of her room. "I'm going to go grab everything and double check just to make sure I've got it all packed."

"Alright, I'm ready when you are."

As Hinata headed back towards her room, she went though her mental checklist of everything she might need: shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, sutra seals, food, water, medical supplies and the like. She had left them all out on her desk the night before just so she could make sure that she had it all and sure enough it was all there, maybe a little more than she needed, but it never hurt to be over prepared. As soon as she finished her final check off, she put everything into its proper place and left to tell Neji that she was ready to leave. Neji was already at the front gate waiting on her.

"Come on, you've checked your pack about fifty times already. I doubt any of it is missing." Neji always seemed to get very serious on the days of missions, and today didn't seem to be any different. At least that was one thing that didn't feel strange about today.

"Gomen, Neji-kun, I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"I was just kidding, Hinata. Can't a man tell a joke around here?"

Today was going to be a strange day.

It wasn't long before Neji and Hinata found their way down to the main gate into Konoha and the beginnings of their teams. Shikamaru and Temari were already there, as were Shino, Ino, Sakura, and Kiba and Akamaru.

"I figured more people would be here with fifteen minutes left till our meeting time. I guess they'll get here when they get here," Neji grumbled, not seeing Tenten there bringing a little disappointment to his voice.

"Don't worry, Neji-kun. She'll get here soon enough," Hinata managed to force though a giggle as Neji took a page from her book and turned a light shade of red.

"Am I that transparent?" Neji's blush was beginning to take even more control over his face now.

"Just a little. I'm sure she'll be here before you know it, though."

"Who'll be here before you know it?" came a voice from behind them, a voice that was unmistakably Tenten's.

"N-Nobody, just Tsunade-sama. I was surprised that she wasn't here yet is all."

"Riiiight. Well I see that almost all of our team is here already. Chouji should be here in a minute or two. I saw him grabbing some last minute rations as I came though town… a lot of last minute rations."

"Well I guess you two should get with your team. I'm going to go and wait on Naruto-kun and Tsunade-sama with Shikamaru-kun and Temari-chan."

"Oh yeah, speaking of seeing people, I saw Naruto, too. He was buying up ramen like it was going out of style or something," Tenten added before she and Neji started to head for her team.

"I think I can answer why that's happening," came a response from the now familiar voice of Temari. "One day while we were having one of our little bonding sessions, if you can even call it that, Naruto asked me if I liked ramen, since we were looking for stuff that we shared in common. Well, with as straight of a face as I could manage I said, "Ramen? What's ramen?" I swear I thought he was going to have an aneurism right then and there. He just couldn't handle the thought that there was somebody that hadn't heard of ramen before and insisted that Shingi-sensei take us to eat ramen at least once a day so that I might be able to enjoy the glorious delicacy to its fullest before I had to return to the poor, deprived Hidden Village of the Sand that had yet to receive the divine meal of noodles and broth. I never thought that he would take it to heart like this, though. I guess I'll just have to tell him when we get there that it is all thanks to him that I sent a message home asking that they build several ramen stands and shops dedicated to ramen, thus saving the Sand from the travesty of never enjoying a bowl of ramen."

"And this is why I keep you around," smirked Shikamaru. "Where one brilliant mind is good, a brilliant one and a sharp and twisted one put together are even better."

"What do you mean by keep me around? Who's the one that's always doing all the visiting to who's village? This is the first time I've been in a good long while, thank you." Temari in fact does have a sharp wit with a little bit of a twisted side. That's probably why she and Shikamaru click so well. They keep each other on their toes, always playing their mind games with one another. It's truly amazing that they haven't killed each other yet.

After the group shared their laugh and Shikamaru and Temari bickered a bit, Hinata looked back and noticed two forms breaking the top of the hill: Naruto and Chouji, both bearing armfuls of ramen bowls.

"Hiiii, Hinata-chaaaan," Naruto yelled when he saw Hinata looking back in his direction, nearly dropping all the ramen in his arms as he tried to wave.

"Not you, too, Chouji," Shikamaru forced though a laugh.

"I couldn't help myself. Naruto told me that Temari said that there weren't any ramen shops in the Hidden Village of the Sand, and I couldn't stand the thought of not having any while I was away," Chouji mumbled, imagining not having access to one of his favorite foods for such a long period of time.

"I've got something to tell you, but it'll have to wait until later. Don't let me forget, Chouji; it'll make you laugh," Shikamaru promised, sorry that his best friend had gotten caught up in this prank on Naruto.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. Do you want me to take some of that for you so you can put it in your pack?" Hinata asked as the orange-clad ninja found his way to where she was standing, arms overflowing with ramen.

"Sanku, Hinata-chan. Some of it's for you, actually; I remembered that you like miso, so I grabbed a few extra. After I remembered that Gaara's sister said that there wasn't any ramen in the Sand's village, I didn't want you to go without it either."

"A-Arigato, Naruto-kun. You shouldn't have. Really." Hinata's face began to flow crimson once again. She had never expected Naruto to go out of his way to bring her something that they both enjoyed so much.

"That's so sweet. Why don't you ever do that for me, Shikamaru-kun?" Temari sneered.

"Because the results would be the same either way, regardless of whether I did or not. Even if I attempted such a feat, I would be struck either way: one because I shouldn't have and the other because I didn't, as we just came near to witnessing. It's just easier to do the latter."

"You're just lazy."

"You just expect a lot."

"Do those two ever stop?" Naruto asked, nudging Hinata as she continued to push ramen bowls into what little room her pack had left.

"Let's hope so, Naruto-kun."

Shikamaru and Temari eventually ended their bickering with a lump in the shape of a folded up fan forming on the back of Shikamaru's head. Eventually everyone arrived without trouble--everyone but Tsunade. It was already two minutes till, and the Hokage had yet to make an appearance.

"Well it's nice to see that everyone is on time."

"Tree," they all said in unison. One of these days one of them was going to cut that blasted tree down so no one could hide in it ever again. There always seemed to be a tree everywhere that was just perfect for hiding in, and Tsunade or someone always seemed to find it funny to hide in it until it was just about time to finally meet. One day these trees would meet their doom.

"I take it that everyone has been working hard and knows their roles. Alright then, Neji, your team will head out first. There will be about a two-minute distance between us, and remember, your job is to find where their ambush point is first and report it back to us. Don't engage unless they attack you first, and if they outnumber you, then retreat back to our position. Don't let your pride get you killed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Neji answered, serious as ever.

"Okay. Now go, and stay out of sight." And with that Neji's team was out of sight.

"Now, Kakashi. You understand that your team is here for back-up and to pick up any strays that evade detection before they can flank us without notice."

"We've got it covered, Tsunade-sama. Lee has even volunteered to be our runner just in case, seeing how without his leg weights he's the fastest of us all." Kakashi was just as serious as Neji was. It was almost unnerving seeing Kakashi so straight-faced over a mission.

"Very good then. Well, I guess we should be off. Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Temari… let's go. Remember, Kakashi, two minutes."

With those final words, the Hokage and her team headed towards the Sand Village and their impending ambush that they knew absolutely nothing about, except that it was going to happen today, somewhere between Konoha and the Sand Village, by the Hidden Village of the Stone. Okay, maybe they knew more than they should.

It wasn't but about five minutes before Naruto began nagging Tsunade with questions, a necessary evil that she would have to deal with in order to keep their cover from being a liability.

"Granny Tsunade, how far off is the Sand Village anyway?" Naruto's questions were sure to continue, but Tsunade figured it would be best to humor her sometimes favorite Genin for a while.

"It's actually quite close. Once we get to the border, it's about two miles away, just far enough off that you can't see it from the border," Tsunade answered, hoping that her answer would quell any further desire for a more precise answer.

"Oh…okay," was all that Naruto came up with for a retort. Tsunade was more than shocked when a barrage of questions didn't follow the first and that her answer had sufficed. Then again, she wasn't about to ask him if he was feeling alright because she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Naruto soon found himself walking alongside Hinata once again, struggling with finding words to break the silence between them. Hinata, on the other hand, was merely content with his presence.

"Hinata, this morning when I woke up, I was on the couch and it was completely empty of ramen cups, and I was covered up with a blanket and had a pillow. My alarm clock was even set and across the room so I'd have to get up to turn it off. Was all that you? Did you do all that for me?"

Hinata had never heard that kind of tone come out of Naruto. There was such warmth and something else she couldn't put her finger on. Something she had never heard in someone's voice before.

"Yes, you seemed tired, and I didn't want to wake you, so I made sure you were comfortable and that you were going to wake up in time to get ready this morning…" Hinata paused, thinking about what else she had done before she left, crimson filling her cheeks, "and then I left. Why do you bring it up, Naruto-kun?"

"I guess I just wanted to say thank you. Most people would have left me to sleep on the roof and just hoped that I didn't fall off during the night. So, yeah, thank you, Hinata-chan. You really are going to make a good wife and mother some day." Naruto took a moment to let the last part sink in. He himself wasn't sure he had said what he said until it was already out of his mouth. There was no escaping it now; thankfully it had caught Hinata as off guard as it had Naruto, and she was enveloped in a deep scarlet that seemed to cover every inch of her body.

"Arigato, Naruto-kun. I'm not quite sure what to say. No one has ever complimented me like that before." Hinata's entire body was burning now with a shade of red so dark that it almost appeared to be painful; to the untrained eye, it would appear that she had received a sunburn over her entire body and shouldn't be able to move without crying out in pain.

"Say that you'll make me a promise," Naruto asked almost as soon as the words had left her mouth.

"A promise? W-what kind of promise?" Hinata could only imagine what Naruto wanted her to promise. Surely it couldn't be anything that she truly wanted it to be. Then again, today had been quite a strange day already. Who's to say that it couldn't happen?

"I know it's kinda stupid since we're already going to the ball together and all, but…" Naruto paused, almost as if he was unsure of the words he was looking for.

_But…but what? Could he be asking me what I've always dreamed of hearing? Could it finally be **that**?_

"…but I was wondering. Hinata, will you promise me the first dance of the night? I want to make sure that everyone knows who is there with the most beautiful girl at the ball, and I know everyone will see the first dance. I was just hoping that, even though we're already going together, you'd promise that first dance to me, no matter what."

"O-Of course I will, Naruto-kun. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather share it with than you." Hinata had almost forgotten how unsure of himself Naruto could be. He was always "dead last" in everything and was always reminded of it. It had always stuck with him, even to this very day it seemed. Although he didn't know it, Naruto was very wrong in his assumption of always being "dead last." Hinata had never had the courage to tell him, but when it came to her, he was never dead last.

They both spent quite some time quiet after that, almost in a blanket of comfort just from the other's words. It wasn't until Temari pulled Hinata off to the side and Shikamaru, with a bit less fervor, did the same with Naruto did they speak again and only then to talk about things other than each other.

Tsunade didn't seem to talk too much. She seemed rather content, walking alone and being allowed to drift off into her own thoughts, mostly about the ambush that was to come, but ever so often, her mind drifted to the events that she had helped set into motion regarding the two Genin that were walking slightly behind her. Maybe she should have been a professional matchmaker instead of Hokage.

Several hours passed by as this continued, everything seemed peaceful and quiet, just like a normal day, but the farther the five of them traveled, the quieter and more serious they became.

"Granny Tsunade, how much farther until we get there?" Naruto was becoming impatient and was starting to try Tsunade's nerves by asking this same question time and time again, now that they were actually close.

"For the last time, Naruto, we're close. If you want me to be more exact, then we're about ten minutes from the border of our two countries."

"Geez, that's all I wanted to know; you don't have to get so bent out of shape," Naruto said mockingly, knowing he was pushing all the wrong buttons in just the right ways.

Suddenly, before Tsunade had a chance to bash the blonde in the head, Shino appeared before them.

"Tsunade-sama, we've spotted them." Shino seemed especially cold and slightly out of breath.

"Have you made any contact with them, or is your position still secret?" the once enraged Tsunade asked, mimicking Shino's serious demeanor.

"As far as we can tell, they don't know we're there yet. How do you want us to proceed?"

"Hold your position, but keep your distance; they may chicken out, and we don't want to attack them unprovoked. That would give them a lot of ammunition against us if we just up and attacked one of their 'recon parties.' Where exactly are they, Shino?"

"Right now, they're camping out in the trees right at the border, probably because seeing the Sand Country would bring a sense of ease, and that would probably be the best place for you to let your guard down. Oh, there are also only eight of them; I guess they figured that they could surprise and eliminate the guards quickly and leave it to be just the eight of them against you."

"Very good, Shino. Go now. We don't want to keep them waiting much longer." Shino was gone before Tsunade could finish her sentence. "Is everyone ready? Good. Now, Naruto, you know what to do."

"It's already done, Tsunade-sama."

"We're to watch and observe. We're only to engage them if they engage any of us first."

"Ino, Chouji, Tenten… did you guys hear that?" Neji whispered, never taking his eyes off of the eight Rock ninja before him.

"Hai," came three whispered voices from behind him.

"Now we wait."

"Genzento, Genzento. They're here, brother."

"So they are, little brother; let's make the work on the guards quick, Tamaishi. I want to enjoy the Hokage. The rest of you stay here; we'll handle the guards quickly."

Without a moment's hesitation, the two brothers tore out of the trees to assail their prey, kunai and shuriken drawn. They released them at their targets once they reached the peak in their jump. Evidently, they had completely caught the party off guard because the first one struck with a kunai never even looked up--she just fell into a lump on the ground, her dark hair stained with blood. The next was lucky enough to catch a shuriken with his forehead protector before the blow became fatal; he even blocked a couple of kunai before others caught him in the heart, causing him to collapse next to the ebony-haired kunoichi that had already fallen before him. The other two guards met similar fates--the other male among them sacrificed himself to save the other, taking several kunai and shuriken in the back, but the lone Chunnin's death was in vain as a second barrage of cold metal dispatched the Sand ninja before she could draw her weapon. All that was left was the Hokage now, stunned by the quick deaths of her guards.

"What's wrong, Hokage, surprised that your pupils were killed so easily? I've always thought that Leaf ninja were overrated, haven't I, Tamaishi?" Genzento pronounced.

There was no answer from Tamaishi, though, only a cold silence.

"Tamaishi, didn't anybody teach you to speak when spoken t…" Genzento's words couldn't make it any further when he turned around to see his brother standing there, standing on one foot with his arms up in the air and his fingers touching the top of his head. "Tamaishi, have you gone mad, little brother?"

The Hokage behind him soon began laughing, almost as if she couldn't contain herself.

"What's so funny? What could you have to laugh about? All your pupils are dead, aren't they?"

"What's so funny is that," she paused for a moment, almost as if she was savoring the moment, "you haven't killed anyone; as a matter of fact, you can't even kill me."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, the shinobi that lay around her disappeared out of existence into puffs of smoke.

"Better luck next time." Those were the last words he heard out of her mouth before she too disappeared. Through the puff of smoke that the Hokage once inhabited flew a kunai that Genzento deflected at the very last second

"You're going to be a fun one to fight; I'll remember the dumb Rock ninja that killed four of my pupils Kage Bunshin and Henge no Jutsu clones."

"It's a shame I won't be the one to fight you then. Kanpai, get over here!" Genzento called out, looking over his shoulder and into the trees.

Tearing though the trees and crashing into the ground came a mountain of a man. His head shaven bald, he resembled something very similar to an overgrown child.

"Meet Zanpai sono Kyojin, or Zanpai the Giant. _He_ will be your doom."

"Not if I give him his bottle," Tsunade smirked, assured that the behemoth wasn't a match for her.

"Zanpai, she's making fun of you. Kill her."

The towering giant soon found life spring into him at Genzento's words, as he flung himself into the air and, with both fists, came crashing down upon where Tsunade was standing. Tsunade had plans other than being crushed by an ogre. She quickly side-stepped to the right and swung to hit Zanpai. But when Tsunade came in contact with him, he did not move; her hand merely pushed into his humongous body.

"Haha, you tickle Zanpai. Now you go squish." He laughed as he took another double-fisted swing at the Hokage. Swiftly, she swung her leg into the back of his knee, buckling it for a moment and allowing her to use the momentum to swing out of the way.

"Naruto," Tsunade shouted, "you and Hinata take care of Genzento here. I think Temari and Shikamaru already have the other one under control. I'll see what I can do against this big one here." Naruto and Hinata quickly appeared next to her, ready to engage their foe.

"He looks troublesome," shouted a voice from over their shoulder. Suddenly, Tamaishi left his strange position and began strolling towards his brother with a grin on his face, and Tsunade placed an arm in front of Naruto, who was about to charge in.

"He sure does; maybe his little brother could help and get rid of Genzento so you all could help with the big one sooner." Tsunade smirked, realizing that the younger brother was merely a pebble that was waiting to be thrown at a second's notice.

"Little brother, what are they talking about?" Genzento's question was barely answered before Tamaishi began swinging at him with a kunai. The intent to kill him was obviously there, and all Genzento could do was dodge his brother's attacks. "I'm sorry, little brother, but I have to do this." With those words, Genzento swung a leg at his brother and connected, sending him flying into a tree.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama. I held him until the last second; if I hadn't let go, it might have killed me," called out the voice of Shikamaru from the woods behind her, Naruto and Hinata.

"That's alright; you and Temari can take care of him another way."

In the meantime, Zanpai had found his feet once again and recovered from Tsunade's strike to the back of his knee.

"You hurt Zanpai. Zanpai crush!" he roared, not sounding human at all as he swung another earth-shattering blow at Tsunade.

"You have your assignments. Now, go!" Tsunade shouted as she leapt out of the way of the giant's huge hands.

Naruto and Hinata both did the same as well, leaping to the left towards their opponent.

Seizing the opportunity, Genzento and Tamaishi reconciled and were back on their feet.

"Which of you is the Nara?" Tamaishi demanded, knowing that it was a Nara that had made a fool of him and forced his brother to strike him.

"I am. What of it?" Shikamaru announced, knowing that his soon to be opponent was less than bright.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Tamaishi charged at Shikamaru, kunai still in hand. Shikamaru stood there, calmly smirking, making Tamaishi even angrier. Shikamaru still just stood there, now lifting his head up to gaze at the clouds. "How troublesome."

Tamaishi got within an arm's length of killing Shikamaru before he found himself flying though the air from a blow to the face, a blow to the face cause by something long, flat and metal.

"I thought you were going to let me die for a second," Shikamaru jeered. "You had me reconsidering our relationship together."

"Now why would I do that? I wouldn't have anybody to torment after I let that happen," Temari shot back.

"You think if we fight him seriously he'll fight back properly?" quipped Shikamaru.

"Let's find out," returned Temari.

Naruto and Hinata, on the other hand, weren't having as easy of a time with their quarry. As they both attacked simultaneously, he proved to be much more calm and resourceful than his younger brother. After several exchanges, in which none of the parties had landed a blow, Genzento finally found an opening in one of Naruto's attacks.

"Got ya!" Genzento landed an elbow right into Naruto's stomach, sending him flying into Hinata, who was getting into position for another attack.

"Kuso, I can't hit him at all," Naruto cursed, angry that all his efforts hadn't even allowed him to land a single punch the entire fight. "I guess when in doubt, out number em. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Suddenly, five more Narutos appeared out of nowhere.

"Two can play at that game, brat. Yurasu Fukuhon no Jutsu." As soon as the words finished exiting Genzento's mouth, he plunged both of his fists into the ground, and as he pulled them out, five stone copies of him appeared as well.

"Nice trick, but I can still tell which one is the real one. He'll crumble just like these fakes."

All the copies of Naruto rushed in to attack the stone Genzentos, all striking their targets but all disappearing in a puff of smoke as they struck.

"I guess I was the smarter one for going with the hard copy, now wasn't I?" Genzento bragged, hoping to egg on the blonde into making another foolish attack.

"Naruto-kun, let me take the clones. I think I can break them with my Shugo Hakke. You attack the real one; I can handle the rest." Naruto had never heard Hinata speak with such certainty, but if she was sure, then he wasn't about to stop her.

"Okay, but be careful," Naruto said, hoping that Hinata would be able to handle a five-on-one fight, even if they were just blockheads.

Naruto then charged though the stone replicates of Genzento and headed for the real deal. Try as they did, none of them were fast enough to catch Naruto before he found a way past them. The copies then, looking for a more stationary target, turned their attention to Hinata.

"Now it's just you and me, bastard," Naruto shouted as he used Kage Bunshin once again and struck Genzento with each copy.

"You two are really starting to piss me off. I think I'll kill one of you now and enjoy myself with the other." Genzento then sprang forward and, with a bit of luck, found the real Naruto among the copies and drove his knee into his chest, sending him flying back in the direction he had come from. Hinata was already in her newly-learned stance, cutting the stone reproductions into pieces as they came closer and closer. Genzento used this moment to move into a tree behind the ebony-haired kunoichi, a place that he had learned from previous experiences fighting Hyuugas, were their blind spot. Genzento then activated a new technique, shouting "Hisan Tamajari Tanken no Jutsu (Flying Daggers of Gravel)!"

And as if they had manifested out of nothing, stone kunai began flying at the Hyuuga heiress in the one place she could not see.

Naruto had just found his feet again when Genzento had found his way into the tree. When Naruto heard him shout the name of his jutsu, he realized that he was no longer the target; Hinata was, and she didn't know it. As quickly as he could, Naruto reacted. He didn't have time for anything else and he ran to get in between Hinata and Genzento's jutsu as quickly as possible. Time seemed to slow down as Naruto ran, something he wasn't ungrateful for at the moment. He counted nine stone kunai; if he could just get there, he could probably deflect all of them. He threw two shuriken and hit two of the kunai. Seven left. Naruto drew three of his own kunai out of his pouch and threw one. He hit one, and it bounced into another. Two more down and five to go. With the remaining kunai in hand, Naruto slid in between them and Hinata; he swung and hit one, and it crumbled into a cloud of dust. He swung at another, and it did the same. He swung again, another cloud of dust. It was beginning to get thick, and his vision was blurred. He struck for where he thought the next one was going to be as the cloud of dust grew bigger. Hinata had finally finished off all of the stone copies and turned to go help Naruto. Still having chakra formed in her hand, she found Naruto behind her. As she turned, she shrunk the chakra in her hand as quickly as possible and managed to only cut the sleeve of Naruto's jacket. This was enough to distract Naruto, though, and he lost sight of where he thought the last kunai was coming. Blindly, he swung and struck nothing but air as he felt the kunai fly beneath his arm. Hinata noticed the kunai that flew beneath Naruto's arm and struck at it with some quickly formed chakra, striking it at the hilt. The kunai didn't stop; Hinata had only cut the brittle handle off and not stopped the kunai itself. By now it was too late and all either of them could do was watch as the handleless kunai drove itself into Hinata's abdomen. Hinata wretched over in pain as the kunai dug into her. Suddenly then, time restored itself.

"Hinata," Naruto shouted, in shock that the kunai's handle hadn't taken the rest with it.

"I-It's okay, Naru…Naruto-kun. I'm fine," she lied. It was obvious that she was in pain; anyone would be.

Naruto reached down to pull the kunai head out, but as soon as he touched it, it dissolved.

"Lay still. I'll get help, and you'll be just fine, okay…okay," he begged her, almost as if he was trying to will her into being okay.

"Okay, Na…" She grabbed her side in pain. "Naruto-kun."

Naruto's attention then turned to the ninja crouched in the tree, laughing to himself.

"What's wrong Na-Na-Naruto-kun? Did I just kill your girlfriend?"

Naruto didn't hear anything else Genzento said after that. At the sound of the word "kill," Naruto's eyes lit red with rage. The Kyuubi was taking over. It was over for Genzento. With a beastly snarl, Naruto leapt from Hinata's side to the tree that Genzento was residing in. In one swing, he ripped off the branch the Rock ninja was perched on, thus starting his descent. Naruto found the ground before Genzento did and pushed off of it as soon as he did. At full force, Naruto thrust his fist into Genzento's stomach, forcing him to cough up blood. Keeping his momentum, Naruto thrust a foot and then another fist and then the other foot into Genzento, never relenting until he could barely push himself any farther. At his peak, Naruto pushed himself above Genzento and flipped himself in midair, driving his foot into his face. Naruto wasn't done with him yet. Naruto lastly formed a clone and then his Rasengan and caught Genzento in the chest with it, sending him spiraling into the ground with a hole where his heart would be. When Naruto hit the ground, he shouted "Kyuubi Renden" and looked to his fallen foe. Satisfied, he began looking for more prey, but his eyes didn't land on the enemy. Instead, he found Hinata, laying on the ground. Suddenly, Naruto returned to himself.

"Hinata!" he cried out when he noticed she wasn't moving.

"I'm still here, Naruto-kun. I promise." She looked up as Naruto took her head into his arms and propped her up. "But you're bleeding, Naruto-kun; you should go see Tsunade-sama or Sakura-chan."

Tears began streaming from Naruto's cerulean eyes and down his cheeks. "For once," he snuffed, "I wish you'd think about yourself and not me, Hinata-chan."

Naruto was bleeding; he had a cut behind his forehead protector from some stone shards that had found their way behind it. He also was bleeding at the shoulder from where Hinata had nicked him with her chakra. At first, he didn't think it was anything, but the cut was so clean, he didn't even notice it until now. And his knee was bleeding from when he hit the ground after his Kyuubi Renden; he had even torn off the bottom half of his pants leg when he hit the ground. But no amount of pain was going to keep Naruto from finding Tsunade or Sakura right now. He knew if he didn't something soon, something worse than his bodily injuries would occur. Naruto carefully pulled Hinata into his arms and lifted her off of the ground. He didn't want to cause her any more pain than she already was in.

"Tsunade-sama! Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out, tears still flowing down his face. "Tsunade-sama! Sakura-chan! Please!"

"I'm fine, Naruto-kun," she assured him, running a blood stained finger across his cheek to brush away a tear.

Through the dust that had been stirred from his final attack on Genzento, Naruto could finally see Tsunade, alive and well, standing before the Goliath she had slain. Brushing some blood from her lip, she looked back and noticed Naruto emerging though the dust; relieved that he had emerged victorious, she smiled until she saw that he was carrying Hinata in his arms. Immediately, she rushed over to see what she could do.

"Put her down, Naruto, and let me see her wound." He did as he was told, still fighting back the tears. The wound was deep, and she was bleeding profusely. "What happened? Was it a kunai or a shuriken that caused this?"

"He…he used a jutsu to make kunai out of stone. I-I stopped eight of them, but the ninth got by. She tried to stop it with her Shugo Hakke thingy, but it only cut the handle off. Then it hit her, and she collapsed. I t-tried to take it out, but it disintegrated before I could lay more than a finger on it. I-I messed up, G-Granny Tsunade." Naruto couldn't hold back his tears anymore; Tsunade had never seen him look so ragged and broken up before.

"She'll be fine, Naruto. It's not your fault; these things happen. Shhh, shhh, shhh. It'll be alright." No matter what she did, however, she couldn't find the words that would comfort Naruto now. _At least I hope she'll be fine.Iif there was lead mixed into that kunai, we could have a problem. _"Temari!" Tsunade shouted when she noticed that she and Shikamaru had just ended their fight with their opponent. "Use the emergency signal flare for medical ninja and some back up, and make it quick."

Temari's gaze was now fixed on the young Hyuuga that was lying on the ground before her. She did not move.

"TEMARI! Now would be a good time!"

"H-Hai." Temari rushed off to find the highest tree nearest the border she could find; she could see that the young kunoichi that she had bonded with over their training needed as much time as she could give her. Even from a distance, she could tell that her wound was deep and would require some attention soon.

"Shikamaru, find Lee and have him meet up with us and bring the emergency unit here as quickly as possible. And tell him that we need countermeasures for lead poisoning and no leg weights."

Shikamaru could sense the urgency in her voice with the final part of her order; if Lee needed to be that fast, then there was a reason and a damn good one at that.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru wasn't about to be lazy about this; he had never lost a teammate on a mission before, and today wasn't going to be any different.

Less than a minute passed before Tsunade saw both the flare and a flash of green sprint by, stirring up dust as it passed.

"You'd better be as fast as advertised, Lee, or she might not make it," Tsunade quietly said to the blur passing by.

Naruto's tears had lessened by now, not because there was no long a reason to cry. He simply didn't have anymore tears left to cry. All of the tears he had had already left their stains, streaming down his cheeks and many finding their way to Hinata's bloodstained hands that were still clutching her wound.

In the meantime, Tsunade had been going through all of her options. She knew she didn't have near the proper equipment, but she had to try something. She had to try and neutralize the lead without the aid of any scrolls, and she was going to need a lot of extra chakra.

"Naruto, I know you're upset, but I need your help." Naruto continued to sob, even though his tears had dried up. "And if you want to even have a chance at saving her, I need you to concentrate, okay?"

Naruto nodded his head that he understood and took a little more control over his emotions.

"Alright, now what I'm going to do is try to neutralize as much of the lead as I possibly can and stop the bleeding. I need you to gather as much chakra as you can into your hands, place them over mine, and push that chakra into my hands. Do you understand?" Naruto's head nodded again. "Okay, you have to concentrate and make sure it's a steady stream; if it's not, then it could do more damage than there's already been done."

With that said, Tsunade placed both of her hands over Hinata's wound, and Naruto placed both of his hands over Tsunade's.

"Hinata, this is going to hurt a little. It shouldn't be much more than a little discomfort, but it will put some strain on you," Tsunade reassured the girl as she removed her hands from the wound. "Okay, now when you see my hands begin to glow green, start pushing your chakra into mine, Naruto."

Tsunade then began pushing as much chakra as she could into her hands and began trying to find the poisonous mineral in the young girl's bloodstream. As Naruto noticed that Tsunade's hands had begun to glow green, he began forming chakra into his hands, swirling blue and red chakra that slowly pushed into Tsunade's. As Naruto's chakra began to mix and meld with Tsunade's, she noticed that the power increase was tremendous--maybe risking using the Kyuubi's chakra that Naruto had channeled was a mistake. This much strength might kill the lilac-eyed kunoichi. Hinata began to moan and writhe as the amount of chakra entering her body increased; clearly, discomfort was turning into agony. Tsunade's concentration strengthened. The lead was proving hard to find and just as hard to neutralize without the proper equipment. The strain it was putting on her body was intense, and she could only imagine what Hinata must be going though.

Hinata's world was growing darker. The pain she was in was immense, and she was finding it hard to concentrate on anything. The world was a blur at this point, sounds were like echoes, and people and objects were just blurs of color. Suddenly, she could hear loud beatings on the ground--probably footsteps--but it was hard to tell. The voice she heard didn't sound like anyone she had ever heard before. All she could see now was two blue orbs; everything else was a blur and nothing more. Two blue orbs and golden locks as bright as the sun that she knew belonged to Naruto, but they were fading…

…into darkness.

**Rasengan2theface:** I bled, I wept, I burned, I lived for this chapter. By far, this is the longest and hardest chapter I have had to write yet. I hope it was worth the wait, considering it's been a while since I've updated. That's what demanding professors and Spring Break without an internet connection do to a man. But that very Spring Break brought about this, so I suppose it wasn't all that bad. I hope it wasn't confusing; it may jump around a bit, but it fits how fast things are happening. Well, it's late, and this is my last night in a comfortable bed, so I'm off to Neverland to dream of what's to come, even though I've already thought it up and declared it brilliant.


	15. Her Eyes Say It All

Disclaimer Time

I, in no way, shape, or form, own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic.

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t.

Now, on to the fic and how to read it.

Generally, everything will be straightforward, but every so often I may insert a thought process in _italics_, kinda like they do in the show all of the time…also, more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a "…" in between them for sort of a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well, I guess that that's about it for the rules on how to read it. So, on to the FIC!

* * *

_**Her Eyes Say It All**_

**Beeeep…Beeeep…Beeeep**

Was the sound that Hinata awoke to as she began trying to swat at her alarm clock that had slowed down considerably. Hinata soon realized that it wasn't her alarm clock making that noise and that there was something keeping her from swatting at her phantom alarm clock all together, something weighing her hand down. As her eyes adjusted to the new brightness and began to take focus she noticed that she was no longer in her regular attire, but what she did find was a hospital gown covered in tiny purple flowers, and as she looked up she came to see the familiar slumbering face of Naruto. He looked like a total wreak, he hadn't even changed out of his clothes from the battle, and yet he looked so peaceful sitting there. O how the tides had turned, but this time Hinata was the one in the hospital bed and this time Naruto's hand had found its place there on purpose.

Not wanting to tear herself away from the slumbering blonde Hinata attempted to pull herself up into a sitting position with her elbow and her free hand. As she began to scoot herself up she became alarmingly aware of her injuries as she winced in pain, tearing her hand from the sunshine-haired boy, and tore Naruto from his sleep.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto's drowsy mind took a moment to find itself, "Hinata-chan, you…your awake!" Naruto exclaimed as he absentmindedly wrapped his arms around the raven-haired girl, causing her to grimace slightly. Naruto soon realized his abrupt mistake, even though Hinata wasn't complaining, and retracted himself almost as soon as Hinata's pain came and went. "Gomen, Hinata-chan. I was just so excited that you were awake that I…lost myself for a second."

"That's ok, Naruto-kun. I know you didn't mean any harm."

**Knock knock** was heard at the door as it creaked open.

"Tsunade-sama," Hinata said as she bowed slightly from her seated position, wincing in pain on the way down.

"It's good to see that you're both awake, especially you Hinata. You had us scared there for a while. But now that you're awake there shouldn't be too much to worry about," Tsunade assured her, glad to see that she had pulled though the worst of the experience. "Now all you will have to do is rest and let your body do the rest to get rid of whatever toxins are left."

"When will I be able to leave, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked, thoughts of the ball finding her mind.

"Soon, if I had to put a date on it then I'd probably have to say the day after the festival starts at the earliest."

Both Hinata and Naruto's hearts sank as they both realized that the day after the festival starts is the day after the ball. The day after the day they had both been looking forward to for such a long time.

"But that all depends on how quickly you recover and speaking of that, it's time to change your bandages so can you step outside Naruto?" Tsunade finished, knowing that she had delivered the news that neither one had wanted to hear.

"Hai," Naruto uninspiringly responded as he removed himself from his seat, "I can come back in after your done?"

"Yes, as soon as I'm done but for right now go tell the others that she's awake but needs to rest. After that I should be finished." Tsunade ordered as Naruto closed the door behind him. Tsunade now turned her attention to the lilac-eyed girl lying in bed. "Now, Hinata, let's see how your wounds look."

The examination didn't take long and soon Tsunade began changing Hinata's bandages.

"Well it appears that most of the damage was superficial, with the exception of the one deep one that put you here in the first place, but it even seems to be healing already." Tsunade knew that she had seen only one person begin to heal that quickly before but they are a very special case, that's also why she took the risk of having them help treat Hinata.

"Tsunade-sama, will I really have to be here until after the festival starts?" Hinata's eyes said everything else.

"More than likely I'm afraid, even though it appears that you will heal quickly I'm afraid that your body will still be weak from the toxins and you being up and around before then would do more harm than good. Just do as the Sand's medical ninja tell you to and we'll see." Tsunade knew what this meant to the girl. Naruto had finally gotten past that thick blonde head of his and taken some notice in the girl and now the one night she had been looking forward to the most was being taken away from her.

"Ok, Tsunade-sama, I understand." Was the entirety of the girls answer as Tsunade headed back towards the door.

"I have one more question Tsunade-sama." Tsunade stopped and turned just before her hand made it to the door handle. "How did Naruto-kun help you when you were trying to eliminate the toxins from my body?"

"I had him lend me his chakra. The technique I used requires a lot of concentration and it is easier to do when someone else is lending you their chakra, even if it's just a little bit. Naruto may be the reason I found and eliminated as much of the toxins as I did."

"Ok, thank you, Tsunade-sama."

"Well I should be going now. I have some more business to attend to so I'll leave you to your friends." And with that Tsunade was out the door.

Hinata only had a moment to herself before Naruto and the others came though the door to see how she was doing. All but Naruto came bearing gifts and flowers that they had found when Temari had taken them exploring the Sand Village. Kakashi's gift was to be the most interesting and unexpected of them all though. Kakashi always seemed to have a sixth sense about things and during his excursion into the local "book" shop he managed to stumble upon a copy of Matsudai Shingi's newest book "How to know he knows and let him know that you know that he knows you know that he knows…you know?" Matsudai-sensei was always one to find a way to use a lot of words to say very little. Sakura, Ino and Tenten had found one of the best flower shops in the Sand, Ino more so to scope out the competition from another village, and brought a bouquet of flowers each with some candy to go along with them. Chouji, much to his delight, had found and brought some of the Sand Villages special ramen that was seasoned with special herbs that can only be found in the desert. Shikamaru, being the sensible type, gave Hinata a shoji board that he had found in one of the markets. He said something about sharpening the mind to sharpen the body in the process. Kiba and Shino, being the ones that knew Hinata best, brought her a stack full of her favorite magazines. Lee offered to fetch some curry that he had become fond of but that urge was quelled when Neji came in with a tray of food, evidently Tsunade had pulled a few strings and Neji had been allowed to use the cooking facilities at the hospital. All the while Naruto stood off to the side, staring out the window and occasionally glancing towards Hinata as she conversed with the others in the room.

"Naruto-kun, what is it that you brought Hinata-san?" Lee asked, almost out of nowhere.

"I…I haven…," Naruto was completely caught off guard as Lee's question pulled him back into reality.

"Naruto-kun already gave me his gift before he came to get everyone." This was the first Naruto had heard of this, as far back as Naruto could remember he hadn't left the room Hinata was staying in except to use the bathroom and go and retrieve everyone after Hinata had woken up and that was only because Granny Tsunade had ordered him to.

"I see," was all Lee could think of to say as his mind wandered off to what the gift possibly could be.

"And I believe we should leave it at that. Hinata needs to rest and eat so she can be ready to return to the village before the festival and she can't exactly rest with all of us in here now can she? Besides, we've still got some work to do since we haven't posted any of the announcements about the ball yet." cut in Neji, who saw that his cousin wasn't willing to reveal exactly what it was that Naruto had given her.

Slowly but surely everyone disappeared out the door until there was only Neji and Naruto left in the room with Hinata. Naruto, noticing that most everyone was gone, turned to head towards the door only to be stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Perhaps one of us should stay, just in case Hinata needs something, and since you haven't left the hospital yet perhaps I should go since you'd need to know the layout of the town a little bit to know where to put up the announcements." Neji was obviously making up an excuse but Naruto wasn't about to fight him on it. "But perhaps you should go change first, seeing how those are still the clothes from the battle and they're pretty torn up." A good point and again, Naruto wasn't about to fight him on it.

With a nod Naruto grabbed his pack and headed out the door, "I'll be back in about ten minutes."

As the door closed behind Naruto worry could be seen in Hinata's eyes.

"Neji, has he really been here, in this room, all this time?" Hinata inquired.

"Ever since they let him in and that's been since about eight o'clock last night and it's just now getting to be one in the afternoon. It took Tsunade ages to get him to leave the waiting room just to get his own injuries checked on and bandaged up. He was furious when the Sand doctors told him that you weren't to have any visitors until you woke up. He would have probably killed one of the aids if Tsunade hadn't convinced them that it was in their best interest to let him stay with you. Other than the one or two times he left to use the bathroom and when he came to tell us that you were awake he never left the room and none of us left the hospital until Tsunade told Temari to show us around the village and suggested that it would be an opportune time to look for gifts for when you woke up. We even tried to convince him to come with us but he was so stubborn that he wouldn't even leave to change out of those tattered, bloodstained clothes, not until after you came to. I'm not even sure he's eaten anything since we got here. He didn't even show the least bit of interest when Chouji told him that the Sand did, in fact, have ramen."

Hinata was speechless. No one had ever been so adamant about staying with her when she was in the hospital before, not even when she wasn't in the hospital either. She didn't know what to think, silence was her only reply.

"But enough of that, you should eat before your food gets cold and I should get going and help the others."

"Arigato, Neji-kun. For the food and for all that you've said, both mean a lot."

"You would have done the same for me so don't think anything of it," he replied as he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

Hinata soon began to ponder over the food that Neji prepared for her, steamed rice with broccoli and carrots, lemon grilled chicken and a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and the words "Get Well" written on top.

It wasn't long after Hinata had started her meal that Naruto returned in a fresh pair of clothes. Naruto's entrance startled Hinata, she had almost forgotten that he was coming back, and caused her to knock her fork off into the floor. The clanging of the metal against the floor caught Naruto's attention as he closed the door behind him and headed over to pick it up off of the floor.

"Don't worry about it Hinata, I've got it."

"No, no, I can get it from here Naruto-k," the bed proved to be the victor in this battle as Hinata wrenched back in pain as she stretched too far over the edge and caused her abdomen to cringe.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried out as he rushed over to her side. "You shouldn't strain yourself like that."

"Gomen, Naruto-kun. I just didn't want you to have to get it for me. You've already done so much for me."

"All I've done is put you in this hospital bed because I couldn't keep you safe and now I've ruined the ball for the both of us."

Hinata sat and thought for a moment, contemplating the reason she was lying in this bed. "You're absolutely right about one thing, Naruto-kun. You are the reason I'm in this bed. Now tell me, how many kunai did that Stone ninja throw?"

Naruto didn't need to think on how many kunai there were, he knew very well how many because he had been playing that event though his mind ever since he had been given a second to think.

"Nine," he answered.

"And how many of those nine did you protect me from?" Hinata asked as she slid her bare legs over the edge of the bed.

"Only eight," he answered, grinding his teeth.

"One last question, Naruto-kun. What would have happened if you had only stopped seven or six or five of those kunai?" she inquired as she slid off of the bed and onto the cold tile floor.

Naruto remained silent as he realized where Hinata was going with this line of questioning.

"I wouldn't be in that hospital bed if it weren't for you. I would be lying on top of a funeral pyre instead." Hinata's words grew quieter and more sincere the closer she crept to Naruto. "Tsunade-sama also told me about what else you did and that she couldn't have preformed that Jutsu without you. You saved my life Naruto, you're the reason I'm here right now," she ended as she wrapped her arms around the now weeping blonde.

His arms slowly found there way around her shoulders and he pulled her closer to him as he continued to cry. She wrapped her arms around him even more tightly and buried her face into his chest and like that they remained until Naruto had no more tears to cry.

After Naruto's tears found their end the two pulled away from one another and their eyes found one another. As Naruto searched Hinata's pale lavender orbs he found no coldness or malice, only warmth and understanding were there. Hinata, in turn, though his bloodshot eyes found comfort and ease, two things that Naruto was far from being used to.

The silence between the two was finally broken by the sound of metal hitting the floor, this time Hinata's spoon laid victim on the cold tile floor.

"Kuso, I went and let your food get cold with all my bawling." Naruto genuinely knew that Hinata needed to eat in order to gain her strength back and cold food wasn't the most satisfying way to do it.

"That's alright, I'll get Neji-kun to fix me something some other time. How about you fix up a couple of bowls of that ramen Chouji found and we can have lunch together? I'll even start the water for you if you can dig it out of the bags in the corner."

Hinata's idea sounded even better and better by the moment. Naruto couldn't remember the last time he had eaten since they had left Konoha.

"Hai," Naruto answered with a smile replacing the melancholy look on his face as he rushed over and began tearing though the bags as Hinata made her way over to the sink on the opposite side of the room.

"Hey, Hinata, didn't Gaa," Naruto began to ask as he turned around to bring the pair of ramen cups over to Hinata at the sink, but as soon as he was around facing her he had reversed his direction and had a light crimson covering his face.

_Kuso…I'm not a pervert like Ero-Senin…I am NOT a pervert like Ero-Senin_

"Didn't what, Naruto-kun?" she asked, not understanding the muffled words coming out of his mouth.

"I…uh… could you maybe tighten you gown a little bit, maybe, because I can see?" he requested with his person still facing the wall.

"Tighten my," the realization struck her as to what he was referring to, "oh…s-sure Naruto-k-kun," she shuttered as scarlet filled her cheeks. She also felt her heart twinge a little, most guys would have allowed her to remain as she was and ogle her exposure as long as allowed, but Naruto had always been more than kind to her and seemed to be almost as embarrassed that he had noticed as she was.

"There, all done," she announced as she tied the last pair of strings together tightly.

At the signal Naruto turned around to find that Hinata had fastened up all the loose strings quite tightly, so tight in fact that the formerly loose-fitting gown now clung to her body, showing off more of her form thanNaruto, or anyone for that matter, had ever seen.

Naruto had never noticed how gorgeous Hinata was on a physical level. Most girls with a body like hers would flaunt it and make sure that everyone knew how beautiful she was but Hinata always hid under that bulky jacket and never took it off. Perhaps, one day, Naruto would be able to coax Hinata into wearing that jacket less often.

"So…um…is the water ready yet?" Naruto couldn't help but stumble over his words and barely diverted his eyes before he began to stare.

"Yes, I think it's just right," she answered as the turned and took both cups from Naruto to fill. After that she went and sat them on the table next to the bed and took a pair of chopsticks each out of a draw and placed them on top, so as to keep the lids shut.

"Do you need any help getting back into bed?" Naruto asked, feeling a little useless as he stood there and watched her make all the preparations.

"I just need to lower it and I should be fine, you'd think with how high they set it they wanted to keep me up there the whole time," she answered as she found the control dangling off the side of the bed and pressed the button that lowered it closer to the ground. However the bed didn't lower itself quite as low as a normal bed would and was still a little high off the ground. As Hinata pushed down on the bed trying to pull herself up her body made sure she was aware that the toxins hadn't fully left her system yet as she lost her strength, her arms buckled and she tumbled towards the floor. She never found the floor though, what she found was a pair of arms.

"Arigato, Naruto-kun." Hinata's blush became apparent immediately as she remembered the time in the Bikouchuu forest.

"Would you like me to help you into bed this time or should we see how many times it'll take until I miss?" he teased.

"Ok, you win," she admitted in defeat as Naruto placed and arm under her legs and lifted her up onto the bed as best as he could.

"I know that you don't want to be a burden, I can see it in your eyes, but right now you need to let someone else bear some of yours so you can be healthy soon and we can show Granny Tsunade that you're well enough to go to the ball. Remember, you made me a promise and I intend to make you keep it and if you can't go to the ball then you can't keep it now can you?"

Hinata replied with only a nod and a smile and that was more than enough of an answer for Naruto, her eyes said the rest.

"Now how about some of that Desert ramen? I'm sure it's not up to Ichiraku standards but it can't be all that bad."

"Only if you'll hand me my cup and chopsticks, Naruto-kun," she teased

"Ah, someone's learning."

Naruto never left the room for the rest of the day, except for when the nurses came by to change Hinata's bandages. Naruto stayed in the room and waited on Hinata, hand and foot, so she'd stay in bed. They spent most of their time talking, mostly about what they thought the Hidden Sand village looked like because neither one of them had been conscious or aware when they came in. After a while they even tried to figure out how to play Shoji, but after Naruto suffered defeat five games in a row he decided that learning the game was hopeless in his case. They didn't talk about the ball anymore except for Hinata telling what Tsunade said. After that there just wasn't anything else to say because a promise is a promise and that's that. Naruto fell asleep in the chair next to Hinata's bed again that night and, magically in his sleep, his hand found hers once more.

Naruto spent most of the time they had in the Sand Village in Hinata's hospital room, making sure she stayed in bed, but eventually Tsunade decided that if Hinata was ever going to get any real rest that Naruto was going to have to get out of the room. So, eventually, Tsunade gave Naruto some tasks that needed to be done and made sure to keep him relatively busy. Hinata spent most of her Narutoless hours sleeping, something Tsunade knew she needed plenty of and the reason she tried to occupy the exuberant blonde with menial tasks. Naruto did however take the time to redeem his giftlessness from when Hinata had woken up but he refused to tell her what it was and refused to give it to her until the ball, this was on the third day they were there. The final day crept up on them, almost unexpectedly. The final day would be the day of decision as to the fate of whether Hinata would be able to go to the ball or if she would have to stay in the hospital. As soon as Tsunade received a decision from the doctors that had been observing Hinata's condition and had done tests on her blood to see if the toxin was still in her system in a threatening volume, and after she put in a word or two of her own, she headed straight to Hinata's room to deliver the news.

"Hinata, Naruto, everyone, I see that news travels just as fast in the Sand village as it does Konoha."

"Eh…I don't know about the rest of them but I'm just curious and as news traveling fast, with those three and Temari here Konoha's news network is suffering dearly. Surely the news papers are running "No News Today" as the headline. I'm surprised the papers here had any news in them at all until we got here," Shikamaru injected, expecting wrath to come upon him from all sides he found that he was poorly mistaken. Sakura and Ino were busy talking to one another to pay any attention to him, Ino had learned to tune him out long ago and now was no different, and Tenten was busy directing her attention towards the other lavender-eyed member of their group. Temari was the only one of the four that his quip was directed at that heard him at all.

"Get it though your thick, lazy, pineapple head that if you keep stuff like this up that one of these days I'm going to forget who you are and kill you," Temari threatened, causing all other conversations in the room to cease and focus their attention on the surely soon to be doomed Chunnin.

"Hinata, do you still have that shoji board I gave you?" Shikamaru inquired, his composed expression never changing.

"Hai, it's in the top drawer of the chest of drawers," she answered, wondering where Shikamaru was going with this.

"If you're going to be so hostile with me, Temari, I think I may be safer taking that shoji board to the ball instead," he smirked, knowing that he had just hit one of the buttons he was looking for.

"I swear if you don't take that back I'm going to hit you so hard that you're the one they are going to have to keep in this hospital." Temari's rage was apparent, she obviously has been looking forward to the ball as much as the next girl in the room and worst of all she wasn't about to lose to him at one of his games right now.

"You are absolutely right. I do take it back because it would be wrong if I took that shoji board instead of you," Shikamaru answered sincerely.

"That's what I thought," she snapped, feeling she had won.

"I barely even know it. I'll take my shoji board from home instead since we've been properly acquainted for quite some time. Thank you for being so considerate, Temari." Shikamaru knew what was coming next, it happened every time he got the best of her.

THWACK!

"I believe I may have deserved that," said Shikamaru from the flat of his back.

"Damn right you deserved it, now get up so I can do it again," Temari mandated, her eyes clearly showing she was ready to strike him even harder if he got up again.

"I think I'm good down here thank you. I'll get up after you've calmed down."

"Huhmm, I don't suppose I could get to the reason why we're all gathered here could I?" Tsunade interjected, hoping to spare the only Chunnin with her from any more pain. "Ok, well I've spoken with the doctors and over their test results and, to be quite frank, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Hinata will be leaving the hospital and coming back to Konoha with us."

"That's great news Tsunade-sama," Sakura exclaimed.

"That is excellent news but I'm not done. The bad news is that when we arrive back in Konoha Hinata will be admitted for observation at our hospital." The room fell silent as Tsunade's words finished exiting her mouth, but the silence was soon broken by the person this decision affected the most of all.

"At least I'll get to be home for the festival, right Naruto-kun?"

"Right, Hinata-chan," were the only words Naruto could find at the moment. He couldn't even compose a complaint or any form of protest towards the Hokage whom would have loved to have had the power to make it to where Hinata didn't have remain hospitalized upon their return, but the blood tests still showed something foreign in her blood stream. Physically the wounds the girl sustained were almost completely healed, something that baffled the Sand doctors, but the blood tests still showed something in her blood that wasn't supposed to be there.

"I do have one more shred of good news, however. This is the Sand's physicians' final decision and upon our return, when Hinata is admitted, I am going to have Konoha's best look over the results and check on something for me." The Hokage's words lightened the mood in the room with a sigh of relief and a little bit of hope.

"In other words you're getting a second opinion?" Neji questioned, wondering what the Hokage could hope the Leaf doctors could find that the Sand couldn't.

"Somewhat, yes, I suppose you could call it that if you wanted to. Let's just say that this requires special research that can only be done in Konoha and let's leave it at that. As long as I have you all here I might as well make this announcement as well. Pack your things, we are leaving a little earlier than expected, we leave in two hours."

Everyone soon began to hustle and bustle as they rushed off to gather all their things together and do a little last minute shopping before they had to leave.

"You too Naruto and no complaints, Hinata's things will be taken care of without you having to kill yourself trying to get all of yours and hers together by yourself."

Naruto, having been defeated before he could open his mouth, did as he was told and went to pack and ask Chouji where he had found that special ramen.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama, for everything, really."

"Don't thank me just yet, Hinata. I don't know if I'm right yet or not. Oh, by the way, just so you know, you'll be riding back with me in the carriage as we had originally planned. We wouldn't want you walking back anyway if there are still toxins of any kind in your system."

"Will Naruto-kun be riding with us?" she inquired, not remembering the instructions given to her so long ago.

"Yes, along with Shikamaru and Temari as well," Tsunade affirmed, not surprised that the young kunoichi had forgotten with all that had happened in such a short time. "Well I suppose I should be off and see to it that everyone is ready to leave on time. Someone will be by soon to help you with your things. I'll see you in two hours."

"See you then, Tsunade-sama."

And with that Hinata was left alone in the room. Hinata used what time she had to change out of her purple flowered gown and into her regular clothes and began to gather her things before a nurse's aid came and helped her with the rest. The two hours allotted to her to prepare to leave was almost none existent. With the room now devoid of her every having inhabited it Hinata made her way down to the main entrance of the hospital where there awaited the coach the Hokage had promised.

"Are we ready Miss Hyuuga," the aid asked.

She responded with a smile and a nod as the door was opened for her and she was given a hand up from inside the coach. The hand she received was the lazy Shikamaru's.

"I always knew you had manners," Temari jibed.

"Arigato, Shika-kun," Hinata replied as she took her seat next to Naruto.

"No problem, Hinata. Now why can't you be more like that, show a little gratitude more often?" Shikamaru retorted, turning his attention to Temari as soon as he showed a sliver of his civil side.

"I do show my gratitude when you do nice things for me," she answered back.

"Since when?" he fired back.

Temari then proceeded to whisper something inaudible into Shikamaru's ear that created an expression on his face that words couldn't possibly define.

"Ok…this one time I'll let you win, but only this once."

"We're going to have to listen to them go back and forth all the way back to Konoha, aren't we?" Naruto inquired in a soft voice as he leaned closer to Hinata's ear.

Naruto was almost right, if it wasn't for the relaxing motion of the carriage and the warm weather that lulled the two terrors to sleep the other inhabitants of the carriage would have never found any peace and quiet.

It was three in the afternoon when the party arrived at the main gates. Five hours before the ball was to commence. The first item on the agenda was to drop Hinata off at the Konoha hospital and begin the analysis and comparison of the findings right away. Next was for everyone to rush home and prepare, all but Hinata whom the Hokage arranged for her things to be sent to the hospital, just in case. Seven o'clock seemed to come around too quickly as Hinata continued to wait in her room for news of the results and word from the Hokage. It didn't even worry her yet that her things hadn't arrived, it was probably for the best so as to not get her hopes up.

Finally a knock came at the door and Hinata walked over to it and opened the door to reveal, Hyuuga Hiashi.

Fifteen minutes remained as Tsunade continued her speech about the friendship between the Leaf and Sand villages. Naruto continued to pace and watch the door as the time continued to tick.

_She couldn't still be at the hospital, could she?…Granny Tsunade must have been wrong about whatever it was that she thought of…five more minutes_

"And now to open this year's festival ball, as tradition dictates, I would like to introduce to you this year's rookie class and ask that they begin this year's festival with the first dance," Tsunade announced as she looked over to the group of rookies, standing off to the side where she asked them to. As the music began Naruto found his way farther off to the side as the others slowly moved past him, their eyes showing their understanding. Shikamaru and Temari were first, Temari in a fluid crimson dress that resembled the tint of Gaara's hair and Shikamaru in his black tux with a vest and tie to match. Chouji and Ino followed, Ino's dress being a dark purple that thinly lined her body, Chouji's tux matched Ino's dress much like Shikamaru's matched Temari's, just like most of the guys had planned. Naruto could barely watch anymore as his friends took the floor pair by pair. So he turned his attention away and fixed his eyes back to the door where he found an ebony haired girl in a stunningly sinuous light blue dress. As he followed her figure up from her feet to her face, awe struck, he stopped at her eyes where he found two lavender pools surrounded by a sea of blush.

"I hope I'm not too late, Naruto-kun."

"Hinata? I thought they were keeping you at the hospital still."

"They were but my father called in a favor and told me that I would only get one festival like this and he wasn't about to let me miss it. Especially since I had finally stepped out into the sun and found a certain blonde haired boy to go with. A certain blonde haired boy that gave me the strength to even be here tonight. A certain blonde haired boy that saved my life. And a certain blonde haired boy that I owe the first dance of the night to, no matter what."

"Well how about you and that certain blonde haired boy get out there and show them how to dance?" Naruto said with that goofy smile of his as he offered Hinata his arm and led her up behind Neji and Tenten, who were last in line. As Tsunade called Neji and Tenten's names though the intercom she looked down and found and extra couple standing behind them and couldn't fight off the smile that that sight brought to her face.

"And for our last couple of the evening I present to you, Mr. Uzumaki Naruto and Miss Hyuuga Hinata."

As the words left Tsunade's lips Naruto and Hinata followed as Neji and Tenten had done before them and they took their place in the center of the dance floor and they all took their positions. Tsunade signaled and the band began, violins and cello to start, and the rookies began their winding motions across the room. Suddenly, after about a half minute of violin and cello, drums, guitar and a man's voice could be heard going with the music.

"And lastly, for my surprise of the night, I introduce to you Kurikku Go and their hit song Toki Kikai!"

Hinata couldn't help but blush and smile a little more, not that that was truly possible at this point but somehow it seemed to come on even stronger, when she realized what Tsunade had actually just said. Kurikku Go is absolutely one of her favorite bands of all time.

Naruto couldn't help but love to see the smile on her face grow. He certainly was glad that Tsunade was easy to bribe and that she had developed a lot of connections before she had become Hokage. It didn't hurt that they had a bit of a connection and whether they liked to admit it or not they respected and, somewhere deep down, loved each other in some way or another.

The song ended and another, faster, song began and the rest of crowd joined the dance floor. The next few songs followed this trend as the rookies found a table to claim as their own when they needed breaks. Finally, after a large share of fast songs, Kurikku Go started a slow song and another one of their big hits, Mune en Teiku mai Hakushi.

"Finally a slow one, come on Shikamaru," Temari ordered as she heard the ballad begin, "and you two had better get out of those chairs and dance a little. I don't think I've seen you two out there since the first dance."

"Yeah Naruto, you and Hinata had better get out there or am I gonna have to bash your head in and drag you out there myself," Sakura cited with a little flair in her eyes behind the last part.

Naruto couldn't refuse the threat, even though he was going to suggest it to Hinata himself. He just didn't want to put too much strain on her considering she didn't actually have approval from the hospital. But with a nod and a blush from Hinata he slid his hand into hers and led her out onto the floor where they found themselves in a loose embrace.

The music played softly and slowly as the two of them found they were getting closer and closer to one another.

"Hinata, umm, can," Naruto began, rambling and turning red under the collar.

Hinata couldn't help but blush and bury her face into his shoulder when she realized what he was trying to ask.

"Of course, N-Naruto-kun," she whispered, answering his unasked question, as she leaned back and they fell into one another's eyes.

Time suddenly slowed down as Naruto began to lean in and Hinata closed her eyes, realizing that, for once, she wasn't dreaming. After what seemed like hours their lips met in an embrace that melted the world away. All that was there was them, the music and the night. The night that shouldn't have been but now will remain in their hearts, forever, no matter what.

**

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Ransengan2theface:** Well that's my 15th chapter, finally. I'm sorry it took so long but with it being the end of the school year I got hit pretty hard by papers and exams and really didn't have a lot of free time. But now that school's all but out, I'm still here because I have to play for graduation, and my love life is starting to make a little sense I got inspired to finally finish this chapter. Brownie points to anyone who can tell me who the band is and what the songs are that I mentioned. I know teh translation isn't exact but it's as close as i could get it. Well I hope this chapter finds you all well and once again I apologize for the delay. Later daze. 


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